On Monday, November 24, Michael and I met with Tonya from Options 4 Adoption at a little deli in Marietta (Square Bagel - it rocks). We had a nice late lunch with her and her daughter. She gave us some details of adoption from Ukraine as well as some money amounts. We both left feeling somewhat overwhelmed, but positive. On the drive home we came up with some ideas on different avenues we might pursue to pay for the adoption.
On Wednesday we took our precious puppy, Beau, to the vet for his annual check-up. He was diagnosed with glaucoma. If we do not begin very quickly to give him some expensive drops every day, he could go blind in a very painful manner. This is so puzzling since he is only 19 months old. We are comparing prices on the drops and learning all we can about the disease.
On Thursday, we had our "traditional" breakfast of cinnamon rolls and watched some of the Macy's Parade. We had Thanksgiving lunch with our neighbors Rene, David, Camden and Nicholas. We then headed to McDonough to visit with my dad and his family. Since my step-mother, Carol, has been fighting bronchitis for seven weeks, we had dinner at The Cracker Barrell. After dinner we headed back to Dad and Carol's house to visit with Dad, my brother, John and many members of Carol's family. We sat with Daddy and discussed the adoption. He is very supportive and gave us some financial advice, as well as name advice. Of course, this is the man that wanted to name my niece Alouicious, even before we knew her gender! Thankfully, my sister didn't listen! He actually gave some good name suggestions, though!
We have another Thankgiving tomorrow with Michael's family. His parents have been in Myrtle Beach for the past week, so this is the first time we could get together. I am looking forward to everything but the football talk!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Lunch with the Doves
Today we were blessed in two ways. First, we had a totally awesome service at church!!! Second, we were able to have lunch with the Dove family and ask them many of our questions about adoption, specifically adoption from Ukraine. Their son was adopted from Ukraine last year. It was so nice to get reconnected with friends from college and to get to meet their son. Michael adored getting on the floor with him and playing with trucks and having tickle fights. He also found a fellow Superman fanatic!
I am having a lot of racing thoughts right now. I need to sit down and sort them out. We have so much to do. Maybe if I list them out, thing will clear up. I'm sure God will make His will clear. I just have to be patient.
I am having a lot of racing thoughts right now. I need to sit down and sort them out. We have so much to do. Maybe if I list them out, thing will clear up. I'm sure God will make His will clear. I just have to be patient.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
In the beginning...
Not much to update on yet, so for those of you that don't know mine and Aletheia's story, I am going to start there. This will give you the background for what we are adding to.
Aletheia and I met in June of 1996 at Atlanta Christian College's Freshman orientation. This was a one day event held at the college where we would take assessments to show where we were in areas like English and Math and the Bible. During these tests we were all seated alphabetically and she was seated right behind me. I turned around and introduced myself and she smiled and introduced herself to me. That smile melted my heart right then and there. When I finished my test, I proceeded to go out in the hall and wait on her to finish. When she came out we started talking and hit it off very nicely. We decided that since both of our parents were there too we would all have lunch together. After that day I spent the better part of the summer thinking about her. I was so excited when school started because she was the only person I remembered from Orientation, and I wanted to find her and talk to her.
Well, she and I became fast friends and were nearly inseparable. After about 2 or 3 weeks of school I asked her out. I knew I really cared about this woman that had come into my life like a burst of light and really connected with me in a very special way, so I wanted to make her my girlfriend. Unfortunately, she turned me down. I was heartbroken, but decided that I cared so much that I would rather have her in my life as a friend than not have her in my life at all. So, we remained good friends for the next 2 years.
In 1998 I left ACC as a student. I went to Arizona to spend the summer working as a camp counselor with a girl I was dating at the time. After a rough several weeks in Arizona, I came home early. I had been home for almost 3 weeks when I got a package in the mail. It was from my girl friend. Inside the package was a 7 page letter breaking up with me. I was really upset and went out on my parents front porch. My sister came out and told me I had a phone call. I told her to take a message that I didn't want to talk to anyone. She said I would really want to take this call, so I did. It was Aletheia. She and I talked about what was going on. Before we hung up she told me that she loved me. That just absolutely made my day.
We remained friends. I started dating again the next month. The girl that I was dating at that time was a very special young lady. She and I spent as much time together as we could. In October she was killed in a car accident. When I got to the hospital and found out Aletheia was the first person I called and told about it. I was very distraught. She was there for me as much as she could be during that time.
Fast forward to the following summer. In 1999 her mother passed away from Cancer. I was in Maine working as a camp counselor. I was one of the first people she called when this happened. I was there for her as much as I could be that far away.
Over the years Aletheia and I remained close. In August of 2005 she called me up to tell me that she had just gotten a job teaching at technical college in the area. I was so excited for her and told her I would take her out for a celebration dinner. The day before we were to get together for dinner I called her up and told her to be sure to wear her nicest dress. On Wednesday, September 7th, I showed up at her house at 7pm wearing a tuxedo and carrying a long stemmed red rose. I took her to Dante's Down the Hatch in Atlanta. It is a great fondue restaurant. This was our first date almost 9 years after I asked her out the first time.
The adoption conversation came up on our second date. I had wanted to adopt a child for a very long time. I told her that I wanted to adopt and that I was very passionate about it. I told her that I was very serious about it and that is was a deal breaker for me. Despite that I had been in love with her for 9 years, I was willing to walk away if this was not something she was willing to do. She then turned around and picked up something off her desk. She handed me a folder from Hope for Children about adoption. This was something she was passionate about as well.
We dated for about 15 months before I proposed. I surprised her. We had been a part of a small group for a few months. One night that I knew she would be running late I set up the proposal with them. I wanted our small group to be a part of my proposing to Aletheia. We decided that we would use the story that Atlanta Christian College had collected can goods for the community and needed help delivering those, so we decided that we would do this as our service project. I was working in Atlanta at the time so I informed them that I would meet them there. They were going to meet at the church and drive up to the college and I would be waiting for them. I got to the college about 5pm. I went to the gazebo and set up candles all the way around it. I changed into my suit and tie. They all showed up around 6:30. I walked up to Aletheia and took her by the hand and told her that I had something to show her. I then walked her down to the gazebo that was now lit up with candles. As we walked into the gazebo I dropped down to one knee and asked her to marry me with our small group standing around.
We were married on March 3, 2007. We had a very small ceremony at the church that I grew up in. There were only about 40 people there. Her uncle officiated the ceremony. In June we had a reception at new Life Christian Church where we attend so that my sister who had just had a baby in January could attend, as well as friends and family that couldn't make it for the ceremony. In December we went to Gatlinburg for our honeymoon so that we could do some skiing.
We started talking to the doctors right after we got married about having kids. It was then that Aletheia was diagnosed with PCOS. In layman's terms, she will always have difficulty conceiving a child. In January of 2008 we found out that we were pregnant. Unfortunately, in February we miscarried. As you can imagine that was very hard for us. We had a very difficult time dealing with that. We named that precious little boy Micah.
After much prayer and consideration, early this month we decided we would start pursuing adoption. While we are not giving up on having kids naturally, we are going to focus on adopting. On Tuesday, November 11th we attended an informational meeting with an adoption agency. This meeting was not a bad experience but it really didn't do a great job of answering many of our specific questions. I can't really speak for Aletheia, but I walked away from this meeting unimpressed and actually a little discouraged. I have always known that adoption was not cheap, but I never expected it to be quite so expensive. However, we are not giving up hope. We know that we serve a God that not only owns the cattle on a thousand hills, but the hills those cattle graze on, so money is no issue with Him. God calls everyone to take care of the orphans in some way, and this is how we both feel He is calling us to take care of some orphans. That being the case, we are trusting Him to provide the finances for us to go through with this.
At this point we are gathering information from different agencies and people with the hope of moving forward in January or so with the first steps toward the actual adoption. We are looking at the country of Ukraine to adopt from. We are wanting a boy under the age of 5 or even possibly a sibling group. The time frame for adoption from Ukraine is about 9 months, so it is very likely that we could have a child with us next year for Christmas. That is our desire and prayer, but we, of course, will be obedient to God's timing.
Thank you again for your prayers and support. We will do our best to continue to keep you updated as new things are going on. Sorry for the length of this blog. I will do my best not to make the rest this long but I wanted to give you an accurate picture of how we got to this place in our lives.
Thanks again,
Michael Leavitt
Aletheia and I met in June of 1996 at Atlanta Christian College's Freshman orientation. This was a one day event held at the college where we would take assessments to show where we were in areas like English and Math and the Bible. During these tests we were all seated alphabetically and she was seated right behind me. I turned around and introduced myself and she smiled and introduced herself to me. That smile melted my heart right then and there. When I finished my test, I proceeded to go out in the hall and wait on her to finish. When she came out we started talking and hit it off very nicely. We decided that since both of our parents were there too we would all have lunch together. After that day I spent the better part of the summer thinking about her. I was so excited when school started because she was the only person I remembered from Orientation, and I wanted to find her and talk to her.
Well, she and I became fast friends and were nearly inseparable. After about 2 or 3 weeks of school I asked her out. I knew I really cared about this woman that had come into my life like a burst of light and really connected with me in a very special way, so I wanted to make her my girlfriend. Unfortunately, she turned me down. I was heartbroken, but decided that I cared so much that I would rather have her in my life as a friend than not have her in my life at all. So, we remained good friends for the next 2 years.
In 1998 I left ACC as a student. I went to Arizona to spend the summer working as a camp counselor with a girl I was dating at the time. After a rough several weeks in Arizona, I came home early. I had been home for almost 3 weeks when I got a package in the mail. It was from my girl friend. Inside the package was a 7 page letter breaking up with me. I was really upset and went out on my parents front porch. My sister came out and told me I had a phone call. I told her to take a message that I didn't want to talk to anyone. She said I would really want to take this call, so I did. It was Aletheia. She and I talked about what was going on. Before we hung up she told me that she loved me. That just absolutely made my day.
We remained friends. I started dating again the next month. The girl that I was dating at that time was a very special young lady. She and I spent as much time together as we could. In October she was killed in a car accident. When I got to the hospital and found out Aletheia was the first person I called and told about it. I was very distraught. She was there for me as much as she could be during that time.
Fast forward to the following summer. In 1999 her mother passed away from Cancer. I was in Maine working as a camp counselor. I was one of the first people she called when this happened. I was there for her as much as I could be that far away.
Over the years Aletheia and I remained close. In August of 2005 she called me up to tell me that she had just gotten a job teaching at technical college in the area. I was so excited for her and told her I would take her out for a celebration dinner. The day before we were to get together for dinner I called her up and told her to be sure to wear her nicest dress. On Wednesday, September 7th, I showed up at her house at 7pm wearing a tuxedo and carrying a long stemmed red rose. I took her to Dante's Down the Hatch in Atlanta. It is a great fondue restaurant. This was our first date almost 9 years after I asked her out the first time.
The adoption conversation came up on our second date. I had wanted to adopt a child for a very long time. I told her that I wanted to adopt and that I was very passionate about it. I told her that I was very serious about it and that is was a deal breaker for me. Despite that I had been in love with her for 9 years, I was willing to walk away if this was not something she was willing to do. She then turned around and picked up something off her desk. She handed me a folder from Hope for Children about adoption. This was something she was passionate about as well.
We dated for about 15 months before I proposed. I surprised her. We had been a part of a small group for a few months. One night that I knew she would be running late I set up the proposal with them. I wanted our small group to be a part of my proposing to Aletheia. We decided that we would use the story that Atlanta Christian College had collected can goods for the community and needed help delivering those, so we decided that we would do this as our service project. I was working in Atlanta at the time so I informed them that I would meet them there. They were going to meet at the church and drive up to the college and I would be waiting for them. I got to the college about 5pm. I went to the gazebo and set up candles all the way around it. I changed into my suit and tie. They all showed up around 6:30. I walked up to Aletheia and took her by the hand and told her that I had something to show her. I then walked her down to the gazebo that was now lit up with candles. As we walked into the gazebo I dropped down to one knee and asked her to marry me with our small group standing around.
We were married on March 3, 2007. We had a very small ceremony at the church that I grew up in. There were only about 40 people there. Her uncle officiated the ceremony. In June we had a reception at new Life Christian Church where we attend so that my sister who had just had a baby in January could attend, as well as friends and family that couldn't make it for the ceremony. In December we went to Gatlinburg for our honeymoon so that we could do some skiing.
We started talking to the doctors right after we got married about having kids. It was then that Aletheia was diagnosed with PCOS. In layman's terms, she will always have difficulty conceiving a child. In January of 2008 we found out that we were pregnant. Unfortunately, in February we miscarried. As you can imagine that was very hard for us. We had a very difficult time dealing with that. We named that precious little boy Micah.
After much prayer and consideration, early this month we decided we would start pursuing adoption. While we are not giving up on having kids naturally, we are going to focus on adopting. On Tuesday, November 11th we attended an informational meeting with an adoption agency. This meeting was not a bad experience but it really didn't do a great job of answering many of our specific questions. I can't really speak for Aletheia, but I walked away from this meeting unimpressed and actually a little discouraged. I have always known that adoption was not cheap, but I never expected it to be quite so expensive. However, we are not giving up hope. We know that we serve a God that not only owns the cattle on a thousand hills, but the hills those cattle graze on, so money is no issue with Him. God calls everyone to take care of the orphans in some way, and this is how we both feel He is calling us to take care of some orphans. That being the case, we are trusting Him to provide the finances for us to go through with this.
At this point we are gathering information from different agencies and people with the hope of moving forward in January or so with the first steps toward the actual adoption. We are looking at the country of Ukraine to adopt from. We are wanting a boy under the age of 5 or even possibly a sibling group. The time frame for adoption from Ukraine is about 9 months, so it is very likely that we could have a child with us next year for Christmas. That is our desire and prayer, but we, of course, will be obedient to God's timing.
Thank you again for your prayers and support. We will do our best to continue to keep you updated as new things are going on. Sorry for the length of this blog. I will do my best not to make the rest this long but I wanted to give you an accurate picture of how we got to this place in our lives.
Thanks again,
Michael Leavitt
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