THE BEGINNING…
Where does one start when they want to share how their journey to adoption has come about? There is no defined day when the journey began, at least not one we can see this side of heaven. The answer is simple, in many ways, but it’s not short, so bear with me. I want to be transparent to share from my heart, as well as be faithful to give the Lord His glory that is due. The Lord has used numerous people, circumstances, Scriptures, and other influences to speak to our hearts about the idea of adoption. We have always been open to the idea and we’ve thought about it many times. Once, years ago, I even began the research phase of adoption agencies and looking at country qualifications, but there were many reasons the timing wasn’t right. Truly if I were to break it down to when the journey began for us, it was when we first grasped what it meant in Ephesians 1:4-6 when it says that “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” Daniel and I understand that through Christ’s sacrifice and victory on the cross, we have been chosen to be grafted into the family of God, to receive the nourishment and security of His love for all eternity. What greater gift could we ever receive? And I believe that just like marriage and having children of our own has taught us many ways to love selflessly, as Christ loved us, adopting a child into our family will give us a greater understanding of this picture of God’s redemptive love.
When Daniel and I both became followers of Christ in our college days, we individually, not yet knowing each other, told the Lord we would follow Him wherever He would lead for the rest of our days. As we’ve watched close and distant friends go through the process of adopting and fostering children, we have supported them in prayer and financial support as we felt led. A few months ago, while I was reading “Anything” by Jennie Allen, I felt the Lord challenge me to surrender my comforts and say yes to adoption. You see, we have four kids ranging from age 4 to 10 – two boys and two girls. Sure, there are plenty of exhausting days, days of fighting, etc, but for the most part the kids are at an age of ease for us. We are past the baby phase. They can dress themselves and even feed themselves. We can finally take trips with them, without too much stress, or without them, trusting loved ones to care for them. We have a boys’ room and a girls’ room, and two comfortably fit in each. To many, our family would seem “complete” or “full”. But one late night while reading, it struck me that though we have our systems, there is room for interruption. Our home is big enough to add another kid. And though it might feel inconvenient or uncomfortable to change, our hearts are big enough to love more, too. After all, are we called to live for this life or to invest in eternity?
I was a little anxious to bring it up to Daniel because I didn’t know how he would feel about us beginning the process of adoption. And I knew my stubborn heart had said yes already, but I didn’t want to be the one that influenced him, but for God’s Spirit to lead him. So when I asked and his response was, “Why not?” it was quite the confirmation. As a side-note, I completely adore that quality in Daniel. You see, thanks to good decisions on Daniel’s part, we have pretty much lived without debt since marriage. We have experienced some really meager times financially, as well as the Lord’s provision in some powerful ways, and now we are experiencing his financial blessing through the growth of my business. And we’ve wanted to be faithful and fruitful with it. We’ve prayed for discernment in our investments and financial gifts. And as I researched, and we prayed, pouring over adoption agencies and countries, we felt further and further convinced that our wisest investments in this life are those invested in other people rather than our comforts or future. At this time, we are focused on investing in a little boy from Burundi. We have been accepted into a pilot program with All God’s Children International and are now entering the home study and dossier paper process. We share these things because we need and covet your prayers. We know we have entered into a new battle zone, one that is fought in the spiritual realm all around us as we walk in faithfulness and obedience to bring a little boy home. We fight to give him the nurturing and secure love that God has given us and to show him the love of Christ. We ask that you join us in this journey by surrounding us in prayer and fighting for his life with us.
