Why Ethiopia??

One of the first questions we get asked when we tell people about our adoption is, "Why Ethiopia?" 

God definitely called our family care for one of His.  When we started this journey we had many discussions and prayed a lot that we would be led to the country where one (or more!) of His children is waiting for us.  Ever since I was little and first thought of adopting, I  always imagined holding an Ethiopian child (looks like God was planting roots a long time ago--He is at work in our lives even when we don't know it!).  When we started this process I was worried that our family or Bobby would suggest a domestic child (not like that would be horrible or a bad thing, but my heart was to go internationally).  However, right from the start Bobby stated that his heart was to take in a child that lives in the "orphanage world" and our family and friends were more supportive than we could have imagined! 

So how did God lead us to Ethiopia??  Even though I had Ethiopia in my mind, I told God I would be willing to go wherever He saw fit.  Of course we both felt an inkling from the start that Ethiopia was for us, but we still wanted to look into other countries.  Little did we know that every country has their own requirements and stipulations for adoption (age of parents, number of kids at home, travel requirements, etc).

When we first started looking into countries, our first thought was Uganda where our church supports awesome missionaries at New Hope Uganda.  That idea was pushed aside when we realized that couples adopting from Uganda were required to stay in the country for 5-7 weeks at the time of adoption. 

Then when we started talking to America World Adoption and various other agencies, we were told we'd be a good fit for Ethiopia or Honduras.  As my brother Jesse is in Honduras through the Peace Corps, we felt it would be fun to do alongside him. However, the same requirements as Uganda are required and travel times  of 4-7 weeks don't fit in our family/work schedules at this time in life. 

It was on May 5th, 2011 after we had been looking into Ethiopia that we came across "Lucy Lane's Gotcha Day" video:

Watching this video with tears pouring down our faces, we knew that God had Ethiopia planted in both of our hearts.

This country that is about twice the size of Texas has an estimated 4.3 million orphans.
**For more numbers and facts about the need in Ethiopia click on the "About Ethiopia" tab**

There are varying numbers from different sources but it is estimated there are 147-163 MILLION orphans in the world (including children who have lost one or both of their parents).  Every 18 seconds another child becomes an orphan without a mother or father. That alone is too much for one person to fathom.  Of those orphans, 43.4 million live in sub-Saharan Africa, 87.6 million live in Asia, and 12.4 million live in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In the United States there are over 500,000 children in the U.S. Foster Care system.  Of those children approximately 120,000 are waiting to be adopted. On average, those children waiting for adoption have been in foster care for almost 4 years.

Imagine...
There is One who infinitely loves each orphan and knows them by name. 
If only 7% of the 2 billion Christians in the world would show hope to a single orphan, looking after the child in their distress, there would effectively be no more orphans.

Number of caring adults it takes to make a life-long difference for an orphan: ONE!

James 1:27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress

Hosea 14:3In you the orphan finds mercy.

These numbers have been taken from the following websites which have more information on the need for foster/adoption parents: Christian Alliance for Orphans and Show Hope

~Love from our family to yours~

Do you REALLY mean it?!?!

So the title of this blog sums up a lot of our life in the past few months: a calling to adopt, getting a new job, and starting a BLOG!  Just four short months ago God totally changed my heart toward adoption.  Wait...back up...I have ALWAYS thought about adoption and it's always been something I've wanted to do AT SOME POINT IN LIFE.  After having Eli, Ayla, and Owen I was determined to convince Bobby to have another child...he had different plans.  He was adamant that if we had another child it would be through adoption. 

After having three kiddos, I didn't know if adopting was still in our plans and something I could do (how could I ever love a child as much as these three?!?!).  Bobby had obviously been praying that my heart would be changed because one February night as I was reading "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman (when I picked the book up I didn't know what I was getting into!!), I had a huge overwhelming feeling come over me.  I remember getting up out of bed around 11pm to turn on the computer and start researching Show Hope....and the obsession began!  Bobby laughed at my random (not to God!), sudden change of heart.  It was like a switch turned on and I suddenly had NO FEAR of adoption and knew God was speaking directly to my heart! 

So, here we are four months later, still enthralled with orphans/adopting.  We have been to Denver and back for an AMAZING conference through Show Hope and Empowered to Connect.  We have narrowed down our search for an agency and have decided on Ethiopia!  The process has already been exhausting, overwhelming, and emotional.  We started off with just a thought and are constantly learning new adoption jargon, facts, how to's, etc.  It is my desire that others who have even a tiny inkling of looking into adoption will be inspired by us.  I have read that 48% of people consider adoption at some point, but only 2% of people go through with it.

We started from scratch and are just beginning.  I'm excited about this journey and hope this blog will help our family and friends understand our hearts and be a part of this journey with us.  In the next week I will be updating this blog with things that have inspired us, facts about adopting, the monetary commitment, etc. 

Enjoy this ride through our hearts and lives!