Next Steps

I knew that God was encouraging me, building my faith, leading me in the direction of adoption, but I wasn’t ready to say, I know this is what we’re supposed to do. I was at church one morning, and realized that Jodi was leaving in a few days for Uganda, and would be meeting the three children she is adopting at the orphanage where they currently live. I felt like the next small step I should take was to tell her that God had been moving on my heart in this area, and ask her to just keep her eyes open while she was there, to see if the Holy Spirit might lead her to an older boy needing to be adopted. She said she would (and was very excited).

Later that day, I finally shared with Darren all that God had been speaking to me in my heart, to see how he felt. I hadn’t wanted to say anything earlier, because I just wasn’t sure this was really God’s leading. It was actually very hard for me to verbalize, because it is such a big thing to me. But, I figured that if Jodi was looking for a boy for us in Uganda, maybe it was time to say something about it. :)

Darren and I have talked about adopting over the years, since the time we were in Hong Kong – he loves kids and is a great dad :) - so I knew he was open to it. I told Darren my main concern was financial, knowing how expensive overseas adoptions are, and knowing we just don’t have the funds. But he said, you just can’t say that – you can’t put a price on the life of a child. And as he said that, I remembered God leading us to Hong Kong back in 1990 – we knew he was calling us there, but didn’t have the money to move there or live there. But we walked forward anyway, and as we did, he provided every step of the way, for every need we had. I knew that our responsibility is to follow him, and he will provide as we do.

So, fast forward another week or so (this is about mid-July); Jodi gets back from Uganda, and Jerry (her husband) sends me a one-line email saying, “Just so you know…we found your son.” I think I responded, “Oh my goodness.” A little overwhelming, to say the least.:) Later Jodi sent me a couple of pictures, with this explanation:

Attached is a photo of the boy named "Kato Fred.” He is the best friend of our daughter Agnes (whom they are adopting), and a really nice boy. Agnes specifically asked me to take this photo because she said she "hoped I could help Fred be adopted also.” I think Jerry told you, Kato means "twin.” His twin died and he is alone at the orphanage. I don't have any other details about him, but of course I know how to find out. There is also a photo of him doing dishes with my girls at the guest house, which is on the compound at the orphanage (this is where we stayed). He is a great worker...your kitchen would be clean! :)

So, a new thing to add to all that I’m pondering in my heart – is this possibly our new son?