journey
matt and i have always talked about children. on our 2nd date we named 3 boys and 3 girls. soon after, we discovered that we both always dreamed of adopting. God has always burdened our hearts for orphans and He has slowly revealed parts of His plan for our family regarding that. sure we've said yes to donations, sponsoring, supporting missionaries, even taking several missions trips, but that isn't enough any more. it has been made clear that the time has come and He is preparing our children for us and us for them. the children that He has chosen as ours long ago. so with excited expectation, we're saying "YES" to God's calling for our family!
i had no idea that 34% of Christian families consider adopting, yet only 1% do. i had no idea that if ONE family in every evangelical church in the state of Michigan adopted an orphan in their state there would ( theoretically) not be any orphans in Michigan. i had no idea that there are 147,000,000 orphans in our world. 147 MILLION. God forgive us....forgive me.
...once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God,who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act. (Proverbs 24:12)
matt and i have always had a love for africa...a dream to travel there...a dream to serve there...we're even prayerfully open to serving long term there. so, naturally, after much research, domestically and internationally, we are certain that we have babies that are to be part of our family waiting there. it is hard to explain how we knew that the country we were led to was "it", but the best way to explain it is that upon looking through the pictures of the babies & toddlers there, it was like looking into our girl's eyes right after I gave birth to them. it was instant. it was pure love.
my heart is broken for the children of our children's home country. of the 147 million orphans world wide, more than 2 million of them are living there. there are mothers there that literally cannot feed their children for days....weeks. they are starving. children...with names and faces and hearts and sadness and joy. starving. there are children being forced to be soliders in a war that has been going on longer than i have been alive.
we have had a lot of love and support from those who know and love us. and we have had a LOT of discouraging, even rude, comments. for the most part, i'm okay with that....i'm certain it will continue for many years. it gives us opportunites to share. i'm excited to have this space as our own personal record of our journey. please know that anything i post was something that spoke to ME. something that stirred my heart. something that convicted me. something that encouraged me. nothing is meant to be said with pride or to make anyone feel guilty.
God doesn't call us to a life that our society deems ideal. He doesn't call us to comfortable. what He does call us to is love. here we are....send us....let us love.
i had no idea that 34% of Christian families consider adopting, yet only 1% do. i had no idea that if ONE family in every evangelical church in the state of Michigan adopted an orphan in their state there would ( theoretically) not be any orphans in Michigan. i had no idea that there are 147,000,000 orphans in our world. 147 MILLION. God forgive us....forgive me.
...once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God,who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act. (Proverbs 24:12)
matt and i have always had a love for africa...a dream to travel there...a dream to serve there...we're even prayerfully open to serving long term there. so, naturally, after much research, domestically and internationally, we are certain that we have babies that are to be part of our family waiting there. it is hard to explain how we knew that the country we were led to was "it", but the best way to explain it is that upon looking through the pictures of the babies & toddlers there, it was like looking into our girl's eyes right after I gave birth to them. it was instant. it was pure love.
my heart is broken for the children of our children's home country. of the 147 million orphans world wide, more than 2 million of them are living there. there are mothers there that literally cannot feed their children for days....weeks. they are starving. children...with names and faces and hearts and sadness and joy. starving. there are children being forced to be soliders in a war that has been going on longer than i have been alive.
we have had a lot of love and support from those who know and love us. and we have had a LOT of discouraging, even rude, comments. for the most part, i'm okay with that....i'm certain it will continue for many years. it gives us opportunites to share. i'm excited to have this space as our own personal record of our journey. please know that anything i post was something that spoke to ME. something that stirred my heart. something that convicted me. something that encouraged me. nothing is meant to be said with pride or to make anyone feel guilty.
God doesn't call us to a life that our society deems ideal. He doesn't call us to comfortable. what He does call us to is love. here we are....send us....let us love.
(promise to update more soon. just needed to {finally} get this initial post up!!)
What an AMAZING thing to do. Jon and I speak frequently about fostering domestically. Every time I read about foster care, something touches a special place in my heart. We are not ready now but I know there will come a time when we are ready and it is the right time.
ReplyDeleteOh, I have tears and chills. I am so excited for you. How wonderful to ride along God's will. I can't wait for you to have your children in your arms.
ReplyDeleteAnd a favorite saying of mine (no idea who said it) God doesn't call the qualified... he qualifies the called.
Steph
I went to the library at lunch and an organic gardening magazine caught my eye. I stopped to check it out, put it back, and there was a foster care pamphlet right there. If I hadn't read your blog, I'm not sure I would have noticed.
ReplyDeleteAnyway now I learned my county does respite foster care, which means weekend foster care. This may be something Jon and I can pursue now!
THAT IS SO EXCITING!!!! AS you know our Timmy is from Uganda : ) There is indeed a HUGE need in Africa and all over the world. In the third world though, it is truly extreme poverty and hopelessness. I would love to chat more and encourage you if I can : ) God Bless you as you pursue his dream for your family~
ReplyDeleteyou will be so blessed by following God's will. anyone who has taken that step knows how you "know." congratulations on the next step in your family's journey!
ReplyDeleteFantastic! my sister is currently working on adopting from Peru...your family will be SO blessed in this experience I'm sure!! I'm actually extremely jealous...this is something I've always wanted to do!! Can't wait to read your journey!!
ReplyDeletetake a bow Jenn
Love,
ReplyDeleteI am so touched by this and so excited for all of you and that little person who is going to be joining such a fantastic family. May the journey be easy and filled with excitement and anticipation, Kamee
I have no idea how I found your blog, but after reading this I am glad I did. I understand your decision. We, too, are adopting, but through foster care. It has been a roller coaster of emotions, but one that I will never regret for this time we've with OUR son. I am going to bookmart your blog because I look forward to following your journey. Congratulations! Many people will say that you are wonderful for "saving" these children, but know that you, too, will be even more blessed beyond your dreams than you are now for having these children in your lives!
ReplyDelete