Our Adventure / Why Adopt?

Here we are, beginning our Ethiopian adoption adventure! Many of you have heard us talk about adopting for a while. Some people took us seriously, while some did not. I mean, why would anyone choose to adopt when they haven't even tried to have kids the "normal" way? Isn't adoption only for those people who have experienced tragic infertility problems? Well, I won't be able to address ALL the reasons why we're adopting in one post, so let me begin at the beginning:

God.

Why adopt? Because God has told us to. I can remember back when Brandon and I were first dating. We were nineteen years old, and I distinctly recall walking across the campus of SOSU one day and talking about how it would be neat to adopt "someday". Of course at that time, anything could happen, right? Children were so far away, but as we became more serious, we figured we would eventually have our own kids someday, and then later maybe adopt. That'd be cool.

I don't know exactly how it happened, but throughout the years God worked on our hearts. He pointed us towards international adoption vs. domestic, then towards Africa, then specifically Ethiopia. He told us to not limit ourselves to one child, but instead to imagine two. Many desire a newborn baby; we might have a preschooler. And with all of that specific direction and guidance, why attempt to start a family any other way? Our adoption will be first pursued. We have no way of knowing what is going to happen in the future. Maybe God will surprise us and I'll get pregnant. We know that He has been with us through all of this and more, so we have faith that He knows what He is doing. :)

Through this time, God has placed so many precious adoptive families into our lives, especially through HSBC. These people completely reinforced God's calling in our lives. Some people have told me that they have never seriously considered about adoption because they don't know anyone who has ever adopted. I praise God that I cannot say that. With 147 MILLION ORPHANSin this world, and with God commanding us over and over again to care for the poor, care for those who can't care for themselves, and yes, even care for orphans, I pray that you would personally know dozens and dozens of people who have responded to God's call.

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."