First Post!

I am so excited to have a blog of my own to share our adoption story!  Thank you to Jen from" The Art of Living" creative blog designs.  She put this blog together for me and since I'm not computer savvy in the least bit, I never could have done it without her!

Our story actually started in June of '09.  John and I heard two very convicting sermons. One challenged us on how we spent our money and the other on making our faith real to our kids.  We didn't always think this way.  Before these sermons, we were just plugging along like most Americans thinking about bigger houses and planning the next vacation.   Both John and I felt a God stirring our hearts and we started praying that God would open our eyes to what ministry He wanted us to get involved with. We realized that God had blessed us so much with four wonderful kids, a great home and job, but we felt we needed to share these blessings more with others.  One night, friends of ours challenged us to consider adoption and pointed out God's heart for the orphan.  When challenged, I told them we couldn't adopt because I home school.

In late August of that summer, we had three boys from the African Children's Choir stay with us for one night.  I had eagerly signed up to have the boys stay because the kids and I had studied Africa in World Geography that spring.  These boys were orphans who had either lost their parents or they could no longer care care for them.  They live at a school that is supported by the choir where they will get educated and become Africa's leaders.  When we put these boys to bed that night, they asked me to read them stories.  Reading to my kids (and children's books) has always been my favorite activity since they were infants. I was sure to choose a few of my very favorite selections and they laughed and enjoyed every minute of it....and so did I.  It was then that they were no different than our kids, except that they were orphans.  They would never have a Mom or Dad. The thought of my own children in that situation was unthinkable!  I had never been around orphans and now they were in my home.  That night I cried as God used those precious boys to show me that this was the ministry He had for us.  He gave me the desire to adopt that I never had before.  The ministry we had been praying for was to help with the "least of these"!  After that, John and I read the book "The Fields of the Fatherless" and could not believe how much scripture there is in the Bible on the "least of these" and caring for the orphan, the widow and the poor.  Our eyes were open to the fact that it is our job as Christians to fulfill this role.  In August, the argument that we couldn't adopt because we home school fell through when a friend introduced me to workboxes, which made our school time much more efficient. :)

We began a very prayerful journey with our kids early last fall. Coincidentally, our precious niece Bella came home from China at that same time.  We've prayed about everything from what agency to use, to what country to adopt from, and of course for God to lead us the child He wants us to raise.  In January, we started our paperwork for a special needs adoption from China for a little girl, 0-2.  Now our paperwork should go to China this week and we are hoping for a referral for a child soon after.

We are so humbled to honored to let God use us in raising another precious child.  We would love it if you would pray along with us as we go down this road.  I don't think it will be easy, but there's already a joy I can't put into words.