We don't really fit the "typical" (there's really nothing typical about any of us) mold of adoptive parents. We have 3 biological children. As children, we didn't dream of adopting when we grew up. We never discussed adoption when we were dating. The reality is, neither one of us ever gave adoption a second thought before a deployment to Haiti in 2004 shattered our comfortable little world in which orphans existed for the most part in television, movies, stories, and articles we read- where they were kept a safe distance from our hearts. The months my husband spent in Haiti changed all of that. He came face to face, hand to hand, and heart to heart with the faces of the fatherless and motherless. It changed him (and us) and as the months went by we found ourselves praying about adoption. We didn't know who, what, or where, but we knew God had a plan.
When he returned home, we discussed the possibility of adopting one of the boys he had come to know in Haiti. He was an older child, and ultimately he expressed a desire to stay in Haiti so he could help other children when he grew up. We thought perhaps God's plan was simply for us to pray and obey. We prayed, we were obedient by asking about this child, the child said no thank-you, so we were finished. Right?
Not quite. It seemed like every time we read a magazine, turned on the television, or listened to the radio we heard about China and their one-child policy. One night, as we flipped through the channels, we saw a documentary called China's Lost Girls. At some point, we looked at each other and Chip said, "I really do not want a baby! I do not want to have to deal with diapers again!" I wholeheartedly agreed. And so, the slow drip from newspapers, magazines, television and radio continued, growing to an information avalanche over the next few weeks.
Chip's words- "The final straw came one day as I was on my way home from work. As I sat at a stoplight listening to Focus on the Family, Dr. Dobson came on and said that he was pre-empting his regularly scheduled show that day to talk about something that was weighing heavily on his heart. I remember thinking to myself, "he's going to talk about the little girls in China"- and sure enough, he did. At that point, I literally said in my "enough-already" tone of voice, "Okay, God, I got it!"
That night after dinner, Laura and I went for a walk. I told her that I thought that God was telling me that we should adopt, that it had to be the message He was sending through all of the stories about the China girls. It was then that she told me through sobs of joy that she knew we were supposed to do something and that she had been praying that God would show me exactly what that was. We didn't know the first thing about what to do or how to do it, but we knew from all of the stories that we absolutely could not afford it. But we resolved to do it anyway, certain that if we were wrong about this being God's will for us, that He would close the door and keep the adoption from happening. Basically, we just decided to get out of the boat and trust God to buoy us up through the waves that we knew were sure to come."
11 months later, there was one less orphan in China. We readily admit that when we began the adoption process, we felt thankful that God was using us to help her. We would be able to offer her opportunities, give her love, and provide for her in ways she would never have in China. We felt good about that. And while that is true, within days of having her in our arms we realized she blessed us and our family in ways beyond what we could ever do for her. So very blessed. God has been so gracious to us. Words fail.
