Saying Yes ~ Gabriel Michael

Sometimes it's a blank stare.  Sometimes, it's a dropped jaw.  The reactions differ, but most express surprise and wonder at the news our family is growing by 2 toddler-aged boys. At our age, most couples are pretty close to having an empty nest- and the only toddlers they see in their future are grandchildren. Until late summer of last year, that described us, as well. We completely understand the somewhat confused and "Are you crazy?" looks.

While we live in a community in which international adoption is fairly unusual, we have the privilege of knowing several families that have adopted children and, through social media, we've been able to keep in touch and watch these families grow. Watching one of these families head down the path of adoption (for the fifth time) was instrumental in opening our eyes and hearts to the possibility of being called to adopt again. That family's repeated "yes," caused me to ask myself some hard questions and led us to pray and seek God's will for our family.

I prayed that if this was a call by God, that he would confirm it through Chip. I didn't want my emotions to cloud my thinking, and I knew if this was part of God's plan for us, Chip would pray and come to agree.

One evening, I did an internet search for China adoption agencies to research the changes in the adoption process from our last experience ten years ago. One big change to adoptions in China is that it is now possible for adoptive parents to identify a specific child versus waiting for China to match a child to your family. Most adoption agencies have a "waiting child list" in which you can view profiles of children that need families. These profiles give information about the child and describe what kind of special need they have. All children adopted from China now have some kind of special medical need.
 

Over the next several days, I kept going back to one little boy's profile. I read his information and watched his videos over and over. I'd turn off the computer and try not to think about it, only to pull up his page again the next day (or 15 minutes later). I questioned and prayed.

Gabriel Michael

I sent his information to Chip and he questioned and prayed. We were understandably shaken. Could God really be calling us to be mommy and daddy to this little one? At our age?? Could we handle his needs? Could we really do this? Perhaps more importantly- if not us, who? How could we not? Over the next few weeks we prayed and sought God's guidance and he answered our prayers and gave us direction.

We submitted our Letter of Intent (LOI) to China on November 1, 2015, stating our desire to adopt a specific child. Ten days later, we received Pre-Approval from China, and the journey to Gabriel had officially begun.  Well, in the eyes of the world it had begun- for we know our path to him was known to God long before the foundation of this earth was laid.