Where things stand

Since we decided to adopt, many people have asked us why, how, when, who, so we thought we would use this post to share. Let me take you back...(read the other posts if you want more of the details...)

Why adopt?

The simple secular summation is this: we wanted a third child, pregnancy for Martha is miserable (and consequently for Andy too) and there are children in need of parents. Yet this compelling rationale was far from sufficient. 2 + 2= 4 doesn’t inspire.

We talked, thought, prayed, talked, moved on, came back, thought some more, prayed and talked and seven years later, we decided to adopt. At what point do you choose something that you can’t control or afford that will set you up for both joy and pain and can never be undone? Interestingly, we posed this same question before Martha became pregnant with Bobby. We didn’t have an answer then and don’t now. We looked for the hand of God, we awaited his still small voice and moved forward praying our desires were from God, looking for answers in Scripture, and seeking the peace of God to guard and guide our hearts at every step.

Why Ethiopia?

After determining that adoption was the best choice for our family, we began to consider every nation in the world that was open to adoption. The number of options was daunting, but through time Ethiopia emerged as our choice for many reasons.

First, the Ethiopian culture is a culture we could see sharing with our child forever. The beauty of its people, the rich political and religious history, and the unique elements of its culture seemed not only plausible to communicate but desirable to share as building blocks for our child’s life. Simply put, we love what we know about Ethiopia and know we’ll take great joy in teaching our child about her native land.

Second, we’ve been astonished by how many personal connections we have to Ethiopia.

At our church there are other families currently pursuing adoption from Ethiopia.
Friends from Massachusetts (from our time in seminary) adopted two children from Ethiopia and provided us with wonderful counsel as well as connections to additional families with Ethiopian children.
A close friend has been to Ethiopia as a medical missionary twice every year for many years. Hearing her love for the people made a compelling impact on us.

Third, from a very practical viewpoint, we found Ethiopia to be the ideal choice as its policies and processes regarding adoption seemed to be in the best interest of the children. For instance, the required amount of time spent in orphanage, the travel requirements for the adoptive parents, the age of the children and the government’s general role in the process, all seemed to be developmentally responsible to the child, realistic for all parties, and properly in depth to promote both the safety and wellbeing of the children and efficiency.

How?

Lots of paper, time, driving, overnighting, organizing the random things that your kids put everywhere from birth certificates to septic tank inspections. We started by doing our home study back in May 2007, choosing our agency, Christian World Adoption, finishing our lengthy dossier in November, waiting for a referral, getting a referral at the end of January, and now waiting to travel….

The question that some people ask is, how in the world do you afford this? We don't... God does. I am not just saying this to be cliche, but ironically it is sort of matter of fact because He just has. Since we knew we were supposed to adopt, we always had the feeling that God would provide the money to do so. I think the peace we had about this in the beginning allowed us to take this step of faith, knowing that when we took the step, there would be a loving and gracious God out there to catch us and meet us where we couldn't He certainly did; many of you would say, no surprise, but for us, it is one thing to say you believe He will and another to experience it each step of the way. At times we have such little faith and then boom, He just shows up.

I won't go into it all because it would require 10 more entries, but the gist is we started with $0.00 dollars in our bank account that I opened last May. I deposited our coins that we saved for a few months to open the account and then we said, okay God, now you fill it for what we need and we waited. God has blown us away. Every payment we have had to make, the money has come... from so many places, many anonymous, many just out of the blue, the day we needed it; He has always waited until the very last moment, which has strengthened our faith incredibly.

Phillipians 4:19, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus"

We are so grateful to all of you who have supported us, prayed for us, and just walked alongside of us--to God be the glory.

When?

Very soon. We got our referral January 31rst which means for those of you not in the adoption world, we found out who SHE is with pictures, medical history, and a really exciting phone call. Of course, we can’t share any of these things because she is not legally ours until….. March 28th when our court date takes place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We will not be present for the court date, but will be waiting patiently at home for a call that let’s us know, it went through. After this date, we can share a picture of her with you.

Who?

The cutest little girl we know… Sydney is what we will call her.

Andy