Our Adoption Journey (Laura’s Story)
I have wanted to adopt
for a really long time. I love being around children, and always wanted to
bring more into our family. When I was growing up, our house was always
bustling and full of kids. My parents are each one of twelve siblings. I
have five older brothers and an older sister. Several of my mom’s brothers
and sisters lived with us at various times. My parents often had boarders
in our home. The last one lived with us during my junior year in high
school. I simply always knew I wanted to spend my life surrounded by kids.
There were many times
I discussed the idea with my husband, my mom and others. When my mom was
in the hospital, during the last few days of her life, I told her we
really wanted to adopt. She replied, “Why don’t you just have another
child?” A year later, almost to the day, Thomas was born. That put
adoption to rest again for awhile. However, the thought just nagged and
nagged me until the summer of 2005. I often talked to Steve about it. He
was patient, but non-committal. It seemed that everywhere I went, someone
would talk to me about adoption. I kept hearing the “still small voice”.
Finally last summer I completed an application. I talked Steve in to a
two-day workshop, and we were both convinced! It was a good thing Steve
didn’t fully realize the full financial commitment until later. It seems
that the Lord knew just how much he could handle at a time!
Since last November,
we have been working through the adoption journey together. The Lord has
really used all of the little hurdles and obstacles to strengthen our
faith in Him, and our relationship with one another. I am awestruck and
amazed when I look at the hand of God in our adoption journey.
Our
Adoption Journey (Steve’s story)
Laura has
wished to adopt for many years. Earlier I didn’t feel that the time was
right for us to adopt. The last few years I have become interested in the
idea of adopting internationally. My Aunt and Uncle volunteer in an
orphanage in Africa. Hearing the stories of the children they care for
and the need for good parents got me thinking about adoption again. Check
out
www.Ronandlynn.com. This
time when Laura mentioned adoption I told her we should check it out.
After investigating different countries we decided to proceed and start
the process to adopt from Ethiopia. Shortly after this Laura and I were
eating lunch at a table alone when two people joined us. As we were
visiting one mentioned a time he spent in Ethiopia. When we told him we
are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia the other person told us he
was an adoptive parent. He talked about the blessings received every day
from his children. At this point I realized two things. God is ever
present and at work in our lives and we made the right choice to adopt.
