Friday, February 1, 2013

The Begg Family





The Beggs

Jared and Candice Begg sit comfortably in their living room lovingly watching their son, Isaiah play on the floor.

They reflect on the long journey that it took for them to get Isaiah, but they are so thankful for their son every day.



Isaiah was adopted from India.

Jared and Candice knew they wanted children but never really thought adoption was for them. After encountering fertility issues, they began looking into adoption.

Jared had a cousin who had adopted, so she and her husband were able to help them with the process.

The Beggs looked into three different agencies and ended up choosing the same agency as Jared’s cousin.

They applied and then received lots of information about their adoption process, as well as a list of countries from which they could adopt.

The Beggs knew that they wanted a son, so they looked at the list of countries and saw that India had one of the shorter waits for them to adopt a boy. Also, their son would have family who he could identify with because Jared’s cousin had adopted from India.

So they began the process. There was lots of paperwork to fill out for India, the United States, the Hague and the local Indian government. They had to find a social worker for their home study, they had doctor’s appointments in order to show that they were healthy, and they had to continue to make payments. 

They were getting things done and everything was going as smoothly as possible. They were matched with Isaiah within a year, and they were so excited. They were matched in the summer, and they were hoping that they go to India to pick up their precious son by Christmas.

However, at this time India was going through a lot of changes in the way that they were doing adoption. There were more steps to go through, and more money to be paid, but the process slowed almost to a halt.

Jared and Candice felt that hope was not lost yet, there was still a chance that they could celebrate this Christmas with their son. However, through a phone call with their director, Candice realized that this was not possible. The reality of the fact is that they would have to continue to wait.

This time of waiting was very hard on the couple. They wanted their son so bad. They wanted to hold him and comfort him and breathe love into him.

This time was bleak. They heard nothing, they.....just.....had....to.....wait.

In this time, Jared and Candice’s fingerprints had expired through Homeland Security. So they had to go down to Indianapolis to get their fingerprints stamped once more. 

However, Candice’s could not be read through the computer. So she had to go down again. Once more, they were rejected. The next step was to get an extensive background check from each county that she had lived in. This was all good and well, except that Candice lived in Marion and her previous home was in California. 

Through some research they found out that if Candice signed an affidavit then a friend could go to the court and Candice’s background check. They had a wonderful friend who not only did this for them, but she also overnighted the background check to them, because during this confusing mess of a time, they were given the go ahead to go to India to finally get their son.

They quickly found flights and sleeping arrangements and were on their way.

Neither Jared nor Candice had traveled internationally, so stepping off the plane in India was a very different experience. It was super hot. It was night out, but they could still see the area. The area was very poor and very crowded. 

From the minute they stepped off the plane, they were able to feel God with them the entire time.

The next day, they were finally able to go to the orphanage. All of this time of waiting, at last, they were able to meet their precious son.

They went up to a room with many children, but they couldn’t see him at first. He was in the bathroom. The Beggs greeted the other children, but they wanted to see their son.

Then he emerged...wearing pink shorts and a white and pink striped shirt and squeaky shoes. Smiles spread across the faces of Jared and Candice. 

There was their boy.

After three days of getting to know each other, they were able to leave...with their son. They traveled to New Dehli to get some final paperwork. After a few days, the paperwork was done and they were finally on their way home.

Traveling with their son was a little more difficult than they imagined. Cultural differences and traveling with such a young person brought the couple to their knees asking God to be their strength.

After many flights, long layovers, and a short car ride. They arrived home...a family of three.

Jared and Candice immediately filled out paperwork to finalize the adoption once they returned home.

The Beggs are in the middle of adopting their second son, Enoch who is 9 months old. The Beggs are hoping to bring him home this summer.

The Beggs have their t-shirt fundraiser going on right now, however this is the last weekend that you can buy a shirt. Please consider helping this family. Here is the link to order a shirt.

Also, keep Jared, Candice, and Isaiah in your prayers as they wait to bring home their son and brother. Pray that the LORD would protect their son and allow the Beggs to get their son this summer.

1 comment:

Ami said...

Thanks for sharing their story, Dana! :) Ami