A penny for your thoughts

We find it funny because in response to our adoption, people so often ask “Why don’t you (adopt somewhere else, have your own, go through this agency, adopt a different culture, etc)… instead?” We have decided that that is going to be an often heard comment. However, this does not bother us. We welcome the questions. We know why we want what we do, but others don’t. Our first thought is “Why would we WANT to change anything?” But we do realize that everyone asking the questions cares about us and wants to make sure that we are ready for this and realize what is to come. David and I have always known we ARE different and desire different things than most people. We feel we have always been a shock to our friends and family. Not that we look to be that way, just that we are that way. What we desire and what they desire are often two totally different things. So we knew when we decided to pursue this adoption; we would receive lots of questions, concerns, etc. We know the road ahead is going to be a long, bumpy road, on the flip side we know that there will be plenty of good times also. Yes, this is something that not everyone can do but we both feel confident in our decision.

Why don’t we adopt somewhere else?

We know that Ethiopia has a great need and that is why we decided to adopt from there. We are happy with this choice. The color of a person’s skin isn’t what matters to us. We are all made in God’s image. It is man that looks at the outside, God looks at the inside/heart. We’re all people in need of a Savior. I have thought a lot how different people will respond, as well as the unfortunate challenges he may have to face when it comes to his color or the makeup of his family. It saddens me that this is something we even have to consider. Obviously we have next to no experience being discriminated against for our color, and for our family make-up (for right now). So we know that it is important that we are aware of, educated, and ready to face some of the issues that come along.

Why don’t we have our own?

We plan on having our own some day, but we know that there are kids in the world that don’t have a home and a family. This is something that weighs heavily on our hearts and if we can provide one child with a home, then that is one less child that is w/out a home. We know that we can’t give every child a home but we look at it in that: why bring another child into the world when there are children out there that don’t already have loving families and homes? To us, this child will be our own. Although the child will have a birth mother and father, we will be the child’s forever mother and father. To us adoption isn’t second best - it is God’s plan for our family. Adoption is Gods plan and it is HIS IDEA ("God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." Ephesians 1:5). We were all orphans before God adopted us in his family (Rom. 8:15-16). We feel the best possible home for an orphan is in a home where God is put first and the child is raised to know Him. We feel blessed that we can adopt that God is giving us this option and giving us to this child and we get to care for him/her. Children are a gift from God no matter where they came from. One lady that I talked to recently said “Do you know God picked that child for you before the earth was ever created?” I really thought that this was so true and such a neat thought.

Why are we adopting a baby?

Because we have no kids of our own yet and want to grow with the baby (as far as knowledge to raising a child) as the baby grows. We feel that we are not ready for an older child. Maybe some day, but for right now we want a baby. We want to experience as much of our child’s life with him/her as we can.

Other reasons to adopt:

God commands us to care for orphans. There are 115,000 orphans in America's foster care system, 143 million abandoned or orphaned children internationally. The Bible contains at least 40 verses that, for various reasons, command God's people to look after orphans and the fatherless. God has given us all different talents. Some take care of these by monetary means, etc. David and I want to raise a child that knows God and maybe some day our child will want to adopt also!Don’t get me wrong, we do have concerns like: Are we ready to be parents? We know that our time together will have to be shared w/a child. Can we afford it? Is it irresponsible to bring an African child into a mainly white culture? However, most of these questions are ones that people have when they are pregnant. We know that God will provide for us in ways we can never imagine. We believe that God’s and his blessings will be sufficient. Although adopting will bring tremendous strife (just like God went through with his Son) in the end we are sure that joy will greatly outweigh everything else. So here we are trying to adopt with our eyes wide open, and ready to go where He leads.