Many people have asked the question “Why all the way to Africa, aren’t there children in our own back yard?” The answer is simple…thats where God lead us to go. However simple that answer is it still leaves a lot of people puzzled. So I would like to share some background to provide context.
Laura and I are Christ Followers, not Christians. There is a difference. We live our life not for ourselves or a sense of entitlement. We live in a relationship with Christ where we allow Him to lead every facet of our lives…financial, spiritual, relational, etc. We belive God places “callings” on all of his children. Our call is to adopt from DRC. All of this began in February of 2009, Laura shared with me she felt God would have us to participate in a program that places orphaned children from Russia, Latvia, and Ukraine in American homes for about 6 weeks in the summer. It was an idea completely out of my comfort zone and I remember saying you need to pray for God to show me that because I am not hearing that. The truth was I was uncomfortable with bringing a stranger into my world, my family circle. What if there were problems? What if something happened while I was at work? (Laura was pregnant at the time with Jacqueline.) We both prayed for God to lead us and with an amazing new sense of peace, God confirmed we should host Kristina. It was not without its challenges but God is sovereign and had a plan. Kristina met a family in our church (the McCarts) and earlier this year came home to her forever family! Not that we are great people or anything, but to think if we didn’t obey where God was leading…would Kristina have found a home? Would her family experience the life they now have with each other?
After this experience Laura and I both felt strongly God would call us to adopt. We (being the Type A people we are) started looking to the future and said it made the most sense to go that route after our kids were older, at least 8 or 9. My how often our plans are not God’s plans. About 2 months ago, Laura came downstairs and I was watching TV. I could tell something was not right. She told me she had a profound burden for our children and that she needed to pray for them, and it wasnt the 2 we already had. I assumed God would not lead us to adopt yet and figured this was something else, nevertheless we prayed together. As we prayed about this burden of the next several weeks, God began to reveal the DRC to us in different ways. Eventually we felt God was saying “NOW!” but that couldn’t be…the timing was not “convenient.” We started exploring what was involved with adoption. We spoke with agencies, people who have adopted, read blogs, etc. All with the intent of developing a greater sense of how to pray in detail for what may come.
That eventually led us to a conversation with Terri at One World Adoption Services. After the conversation Laura and I prayed about what God would have us to do. As we were praying for our potential children, God broke me and I knew they were out there somewhere. Yet I wasn’t ready to commit. Laura and I both felt…wait till Sunday. (It was Friday night.) As we walk into worship, there were 3 huge banners across the stage all with international children on them. There was a young man on stage talking about going to YWAM and all he had was a plane ticket…nothing else. Our pastor asked why go when you have nothing? He answered…God said go. At that point there was no denying it, yet I hadn’t an answer in scripture, there was still a small amount of doubt. Were we making a decision on emotion or because there was a need? God led me to Ecclesiastes 2:11 “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” Life is bigger than my plans, God was calling and there was no denying that anymore.
DRC: Our Adoption Journey 