Our Adoption Story...Part 1

Soon after Kyle and I were married, we saw a documentary about the struggles of children in African countries. We learned how years of war, poverty, famine and disease affected the continent's youngest, most vulnerable citizens. My heart ached for those children. I remember being awake at night, unable to sleep, filled with grief. I wondered "What can I do to help them?".

Fast forward a couple of years...our first child, Joshua, was born. It was such a precious time! I was amazed at how much I loved him. My heart had never loved like this before. At bedtime each night, I rocked him and sang to him and prayed for him and kissed his little head. And at the same time, I would think about the millions of children all over the world that rocked themselves to sleep in orphanages or foster homes...with no one to sing to them, no kisses and no bedtime prayers. Once again, my heart ached.

So Kyle and I talked about adoption. We talked about it quite a bit. But after Joshua came Evan and then Olivia. Three kids in four years. We stopped talking about adoption and decided we were done...no more kids for us. We were happy with the size of our family...three children was perfect!

But then something happened this year... I got restless. Not restless for more children, but restless in my faith. I love Jesus...I love Him dearly! My faith in Him did not waiver. Rather, I felt God calling me to something more...something beyond worshipping in a beautiful church every week, beyond the comfort of my suburban American home, beyond my circle of Christian friends, something that would require real sacrifice and total dependence on Him. I had no idea what God was calling me to until I "stumbled upon" Lucy Lane's Gotcha Day video (see side bar) while reading a friend's blog. As I watched the video, I felt the Holy Spirit say to me "This is for you."