Our Testimony

It is Adoption Month and Sunday was Orphan Sunday. We took time during our church service to talk about the orphans in the world and to raise awareness--both of the fact that there are so many orphans and on what people can do to care for the orphan. Fortunately, we have a very adoption minded church, so we get to talk about this throughout the year, too, but this Sunday was especially focused on this topic and I was able to share some of our story...

Many of you know that I have had a passion for adoption and caring for the orphan all of my life. I really think this stems from the fact that I was adopted and I always saw adoption as God’s plan for my life to get me to my family and ultimately, into His family.

I married a man that I knew was open to adoption because not adopting was not an option for me! Early last year, Chris and I knew that the time was right to begin pursuing adoption and we decided that an international infant adoption would be the best fit for our family. We started trying to figure out what country we could adopt from and truly felt led to Ethiopia. We went ahead and started filling out the first of a few mounds of paperwork that would be required and started a process that would take a little over a year and a half to complete.

Just about one year after starting this process, on April 6 of this year, I received a phone call that a beautiful 4 ½ month old baby girl in Ethiopia needed a family. Would we like to review her file? YES! She had some medical concerns, but these were issues that we were comfortable with and confident that we could handle—especially because of where we live! We quickly accepted this referral and instantly fell in love with the little face in the photos.

A few weeks later, Ethiopia completely changed their adoption process and started requiring adoptive parents to travel to the country twice, instead of once. The first trip would be to meet the child and then attend a court hearing to declare an intention to adopt a specific child after having met them. One and half weeks ago, we returned from this trip where we stood in front of a judge and declared our intention to adopt our little girl. At the end of that hearing, the judge said, “She is yours.” The second trip would be where a family would bring their child home with all the proper documentation. We hope to complete this trip in December or January.

When this change was announced, we were all but assured that we would only have to travel once since we already had our referral and our paperwork was well on its way to Ethiopia. But, God had other plans. Remember that volcano in Iceland last April? Well, that caused our paperwork to NOT make it to Ethiopia in time to be translated and so we received news that we would have to travel twice. And as hard as this whole thing has been, I truly do believe that it was in God’s plans for us to travel twice.

This is not a cheap trip. When we started this process, I just assumed that we would cover the finances. God has been so faithful to us in the finance department and I knew that He was calling us to adopt, but I never dreamed that He wanted me to rely on Him for the money to do it, too. My thought process was just that He had been so faithful throughout our lives that we would go ahead and take care of the money. I don’t think He liked that! When we found out we had to travel twice (another several thousand dollars), I just knew that God was going to have to provide for that. And, boy, has He! As soon as we turned that part of our journey over to Him, He chose to bless us again and again and again. All in all, I don’t think we will have to pay more than a few thousand dollars out of pocket for this $32,000 child. God is good! We really assumed we’d be in debt for a few years to follow this calling that God had placed on our hearts. But, through our leaning on God for help in this area, I feel like He has said to me, “You foolish girl. Why would I ask you to do something like this AND leave you in debt?” He’s not, we will not be in debt at all.

I share this for a couple of reasons. The first is that I want everyone to know that adoption can be affordable. Don’t let money scare you away. The second reason I’ve shared this part of our story is that I want to make sure that people know how blessed we have been through this process. God has chosen to bless us with this beautiful baby girl. God has chosen to bless us financially through this process. God has chosen to allow us to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves. Stephen Curtis Chapman of Show Hope put it best when he said…”I just pictured God pouring out His grace, inviting us to bring another child to stand under it”. How lucky are we to be participants in God’s plan for this little girl?

Adoption is such a wonderful gift. It is a gift to the parents, the extended family and the child—and it is a gift that is hugely on the heart of God—one that He is directly involved with as much as we will allow. I am so glad that we have been forced to allow Him into every part of our adoption. We have been blessed and I know the blessings will keep coming—especially once we get to bring her home!

John 15:5 is a scripture that has come to mean a lot to me through this process. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” With God, I believe that I can do anything, including handle all the road blocks and challenges that have been thrown at me through this adoption. Without Him, I would not have made it this far and would be in debt up to my eyeballs. God is amazing and so is walking in His plan.