Before we were even married David would often talk about adopting a child from Africa. I honestly thought he was just joking. I was under the assumption that only rich people adopted. It seemed like too big of a task for little ol' me.
About 4 years into our marriage God began showing me adoption. I remember one afternoon when I was at home alone I came across this video about orphans in other countries. My heart broke in two! I just couldn't imagine a child without a family, without a mom & dad, without proper medical care and poor nutrition.
As soon as David got home from work that night I talked to him about the video and how heartbroken I was. We both knew then that one day we would adopt! We decided that we would have a couple of our own and adopt the rest.
Over the last 6 years adoption and orphans remained in our hearts and minds. We had Austin in 2008 & Alexa in 2011. After having Alexa I knew that our next child would quite possibly come from adoption. David and I talked about it on several occasions. We knew the time was approaching but we wanted to wait for Alexa to get a little bigger plus at the time we didn't have any idea what our next step was to pursue it.
When Alexa was 11 months old we began going to Tri-Cities Baptist Church. A few months after we started going there we joined a Sunday school class and soon learned that a couple in our class had a little girl that they had adopted. We were then introduced to an adoption agency, Bethany Christian Services.
During one of our Sunday morning services at church there were people from Bethany Christian Services there. We stopped by their table and signed up to get more information. There was an informational meeting in January that we weren't able to attend. A few months passed and honestly with all the mission trip stuff going on, we put adoption on the back burner.
Have you ever had one of those moments when you are reading your Bible and its like God is sitting right in front of you speaking to you? I had one of those moments during this time that we set adoption on the "waiting list." I was actually looking up The Great Commission in my Bible and by accident turned to Matthew 18 instead of Matthew 28. Jesus himself says in Matthew 18:5, "and anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me." I knew that it was not by accident that I turned to chapter 18 and my mind immediately thought of adoption. God fueled the fire in my heart that I had for adoption and urged me to take the next step.
I brought it up to David and told him I was going to call the adoption agency and get more info. I called on a Thursday and the lady I spoke with informed me that there was another meeting that following Monday.
Everything worked out and we were able to attend that meeting. It was very informative and we learned so much. My excitement grew at the possibilities and that finally God was telling me that its time to begin this journey (or finally we were obeying).
We are still waiting on God to confirm what type of an adoption he is calling us to. International adoption seems a little scarier to me. There are a lot more unknowns. Usually you don't know the family history for example. The wait time is longer and you will not walk away with a newborn baby. (Which honestly, I don't know if I want to go back to newborn days.) But ultimately we are putting our yes on the table no matter what that looks like or what obstacles we may face. We are just really going to have to depend on God to see us through the uncertainty and scary times. We know He has a child picked out for us.
David recently found this site on facebook called Stuck. It is a documentary film about international adoption. They are traveling across the US showing this film in numerous cities. Their tour will end in Washington D.C. where they are going to take a petition (they are hoping to get like a million signatures) to try to get the US to advocate for international adoptions and do their part to make the process easier. Over the last 5 years international adoption from US families has declined more than 50% because the adoption process has been made so hard with all the legal obstacles. You can imagine with a decline like that what that has done to the orphan population. They are selling the documentary for $12.99 to help fund the movement. Here is a website you can go to and watch a trailer about it.... http://buy.stuckdocumentary.com/
So another journey begins! I am excited to see what our mission trip to Africa holds and what this adoption calling will lead us to. I definitely believe the two go hand in hand in some way. I have been on the edge of my seat in anticipation for God's next move. He fulfills my life and gives me blessings beyond my wildest dreams when I am obedient to Him. Some things may scare me to death and cause me stress while I am walking through it. But I always get to the end and look back in awe at how He orchestrated it and put everything perfectly into place.
For now I leave you with this verse that we taught Austin a while ago from 1 Peter 5:7, "Give all your worries to God because He cares for you." That scripture pops in my head every time I start to worry and get caught up in the "what if's."
Isn't it awesome to be a child of God?! The Almighty God who controls everything, loves us, and cares for us? What if He wouldn't have "adopted" us through the death of His son? I couldn't imagine walking through this scary world we live in without God as my savior. There is peace to be had that surpasses all understanding when you give your heart to God and "....confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead...." (Romans 10:9)
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