Friends and Family,
I am very excited that so many of you have decided to join us on our adoption journey. Thanks for subscribing to the blog for the updates!!
I have been anxious to share with you how this adoption thing came about, but first, I would like to address a couple of funny things that have come up. I guess when the word gets out that “someone” has decided to have a baby….that stories get started and questions arise. So I would like to clarify some of these things.
First….I am not pregnant. So that should answer that question and the “when are you due?” question.
I have to say….that I have heard when a couple finally completes the adoption process and the parents are about to pick up their baby….that the mother in many cases becomes pregnant. Jeff and I have discussed this and we’ll happily accept that situation should it happen to us.
Which brings me to the second clarification….No, we are not having infertility problems. I say this lightly knowing that some couples do struggle with this and I want to be sensitive to it. However, that is not the case for Jeff and I. We are not having any complications with trying to get pregnant. We simply have not been trying. I apologize if that was too much information.
And lastly….We are not adopting just because I feel like I should since I was adopted.
Our adopting has nothing to do with me and my adoption (I’ll share that story another day) but simply a calling from God to do it.
So now....let me share with you how that calling came to be.
After having both our boys Jeff and I have had the discussion over and over whether or not to have more children. (we've always wanted a girl) It was something we really wanted but feeling overwhelmed in the throws of ministry and with the sense of "little" extra time we really just kept the idea of a baby in the back of our minds in hopes that maybe the LORD would “surprise” us with another or give us a clear “yes”or "no" answer of whether or not to try again.
My heart had already been softened to the idea of adoption after hearing on a couple of occasions of pastors speaking their hearts on the issue and giving unimaginable statistics on orphans around the globe. In March 2008 I received a series of messages via email and internet in regards to Christians stepping up to the plate and adopting these babies that needed a home and a family.
At that series of messages I began to feel that the LORD might be speaking to me personally but thinking to myself that it was impossible for our family in many aspects. After a few months went by and nothing came of it and the LORD seemed silent on the matter I specifically remember thinking that maybe I misunderstood and that it must have not been a message for me after all. Besides, Jeff would never go for it, right? Little did I know that this silent time for me was exactly the time frame in which the LORD was beginning a work in Jeff’s heart regarding adoption.
That summer at Jeff’s preteen camp one of the camp owners pulled the leaders aside including Jeff and began pouring out his heart on the matter of adoption and sponsoring orphaned children overseas. His message really spoke to Jeff. One night in passing after his return from camp, the topic of babies came up and out of the blue the words came out of my mouth, “Let’s adopt one”. Nothing was said at the time but a day or so later Jeff inquired of me and asked me what I was talking about and if I was really serious? We began to discuss it and this is when the LORD got us both on the same page and we begun seeking direction on what God was calling us to do.
Some time later I was spending time with the LORD and was praying through 1 Samuel 3:9 where Samuel answered God and asked Him “to speak for His servant was listening”. I sensed the LORD say to me over and over, "listen to me". So, I began calling on God as Samuel did, to "Speak LORD for your servant is listening". I ask the LORD to tell me what was on His heart and for Him to share it with me. I sat in silence for what seemed an eternity waiting to hear if the LORD had anything that He wanted to say.
Then the words came to my heart, “open My word”. Not being a fan of playing bible roulette, I hesitantly opened my bible wondering if I had heard incorrectly. And there in the pages my bible had opened to was Psalm 99:1-9. The first verse that I saw was vs 6. You’ll need to read it: Psalm 99:6 Samuel also was among those calling on His name. They called to the LORD and He answered them.
I devoted the rest of the day to listen for God’s word to me when it finally came unsuspected later that afternoon while watching a orphan video and seeing Psalm 10:17-18 stream across the screen which says, Lord you know the hopes of helpless, surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them…..You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them.
When I read those words, I was totally stunned and it hit me like a ton of bricks….The Mighty King was wanting to bring Justice! THIS IS IT! This is what the LORD has wanted me to hear. This is what He wanted to tell me. I sat there and bawled like a baby for the longest time and then trying to compose myself I scrambled for the phone to tell Jeff what just happened. Could this be our answer? It has to be. Were we to be the vessels of His justice to the orphans?
As if this were not enough evidence of what was on God’s heart and what He was asking us to do.... there was more! The next few days there were unexpected calls from friends who felt the LORD had placed it on their heart to pray for us to adopt a baby with out having a clue what God was already doing in our hearts.
For the next several weeks, the idea of adoption was every where we turned. Even to the degree of it showing up one day while the boys and I sat watching one of their afternoon TV kid programs. I sat there with my jaw hanging as the story was about a little boy and his parents adopting a baby girl and going over seas to pick her up.
These were some pretty amazing evidences of God’s calling us to adopt. It became clear that God was confirming our prayers. So, here we are about to take the first steps forward in this process not knowing exactly where it will lead and how long the journey will be. We walk forward in obedience and trust the sovereign hand of God to bring it all about and at just the right time.
We have heard from many people that adoption can be an extremely hard and emotional journey. So, we ask for your prayer support. We also know that International Adoption is very expensive and can be anywhere from 10-35K. So we realize this is a complete faith walk and we have no idea how this will all turn out.
Thank you again for joining us on this journey and we truly covet your prayers at this time.
(For those of you that are curious about how we chose
