Preparation, and the Equation

Even though it’s really been just in the last two months that I have seriously been thinking about adoption, and moving in that direction, I’ve been thinking back, and there have been many things that have brought me (and Darren) to this point. The first time I remember really thinking about the possibility of adoption was in Hong Kong, when one of the ladies I knew was fostering a little Chinese girl from an orphanage there, and she brought her to a mom’s meeting I went to. Even then, I thought I would really like to do that – maybe foster some of the orphaned babies, or even adopt – but my own kids were so young at the time, and I just didn’t have the energy. But Darren and I did talk about it at that time, the possibility of one day adopting a little girl from China.

When we returned to the U.S., I would read articles about kids in the foster system needing homes, and just feel such compassion for them. I thought off and on about fostering. Then in 2005, Justin and I went to Zambia to work with an orphanage there, and I was so touched by the couple who had started it. It just started one child at a time, as they came across children who needed homes, whose parents had died of AIDS, or were in other difficult situations. They just started taking them in, one after the other, and so their orphanage grew. It challenged me – I wanted to do that, to just take in and care for children with no home or family.

I read books about people who adopted, who had large families of kids from all over the world, or about others who started orphanages (like Heidi Baker in Mozambique, and Haregewoin Teferra in Ethiopia) and I was so drawn to those stories. But inside me, there was always something saying, “Well, they are different. They have this grace or that ability or this circumstance that makes it easier for them to do those kinds of things.”

Then, in the last year or so, especially after Justin graduated and pretty much moved out, I have started to feel really restless. I have had more time and energy with only the two boys left at home, and felt that God was moving me into a new phase in my life; so I have just been praying and trying to figure out what he wants me to do. I have been working with Friends of Mirembe to help support the African Children’s Choir, and have done some work with other orphan ministries; but I knew there was something more for me to do.

And, my house has been really bugging me. We have this huge home, just made for kids, and especially teens (with the basement to hang out in), and only the two boys left at home. I know that God blessed us with this house for a reason. But every time I would walk by Lindsay’s and Justin’s empty rooms, they would really bother me. I started to feel like we either needed to sell our home and downsize, or fill those rooms somehow. I even offered Justin’s room to my cousin’s son, who needed a place to live for a while, and he has been living here for a few months; but I knew that wasn’t a long-term solution.

So, the equation thus far has been:

compassion for orphans + more time/energy + lots of unused space in our house = ?

And I think God is saying all of that = adopt some more kids.:)