Adoption

Adoption is something that has been in my heart for as long as I can remember. I don't truly understand why (well maybe I do now) but it's always been there in the back of my mind. I remember in college while working I would occasionally look at adoption websites at children's photos. I still remember one little boys face in particular from Romania. I fell in love with that little picture and tried to convince anyone around me at work to adopt him.

Throughout the years we have been raising our kids it has come back to me often. I would research on the internet for awhile, come to the realization that it couldn't happen and tuck it away in the back of my head again....and again...and again. Over the years I have researched many different programs, collected adoption agency information (I have a file folder full), and wondered and prayed "why?". Why am I thinking about this so often. Each time I felt reassurance that there was a reason I was thinking about it, but I didn't know what it was. It's expensive, I didn't know that it was something we could ever or should afford.

I had researched many countries. Haiti, Marshall Islands, Ethiopia to name a few. I am on yahoo groups, and had contacted agencies. I knew quite a bit. I had landed on Ethiopia. We were sponsoring a girl there to go to a better school. We attended shows with beautiful native dancers and learned about charity organizations working there.

Along the way Chad mostly thought I was crazy, blowing smoke, and unrealistic I think. He let me blab about this country or that child's photo. He let me tell him about adoption tax credits and so and so who adopted 3 children from this country. He's let me browse adoption blogs until my eyes are red and I think he just let it go in one ear and out the other until it didn't. Along the way his heart has softened and he's realized that this wasn't really going away. While his head still worries about money...his heart has said yes...YES!

Awhile back I felt like I should just be patient and an opportunity would maybe drop in our lap so to speak. Well here it is. In our laps. You see, over Memorial Day weekend we go camping in Idaho with Chad's parents and their friends. Some friends of ours, that live in our neighborhood, also go with our group. While we were there I asked about my friend's dad who works in Africa as I had done before. This time my friend mentioned that his mom who visits an orphanage there had fallen in love with a little girl there and really wanted to see someone adopt her. And there it was....in our laps. I quietly started asking questions. You see few people knew about my desire to adopt. It was something I kept fairly close to me over the years. They told me what little they knew and then told me there was picture of her on Facebook with my friend's mom. I disappeared for a bit to find my phone and look on Facebook. I found the picture. I found her. She's in Ghana.

Here we are many months later, waiting to hear if her grandmother will sign off on the adoption. Waiting...waiting...waiting... That is international adoption. It's amazing how The Lord works though isn't it. How He sees the big picture.

So far we have completed our home study, put together a dossier of a mountain of paperwork, had doctor visits, fingerprints, background checks, gotten passports and visas, fed-exed galore, researched and researched some more and right now it comes down to what her grandmother decides...as it should. And we are waiting. We are blessed to have people like my friend's parents and wonderful people that they know working on our behalf in Africa. Though I can't show you pictures yet I can tell you that she is probably 5 though we're not sure. She has a beautiful smile and loves my friends parents dearly and I can't wait until she can come home.

And so we wait.