Why Adopt?

Not everyone is called to adopt but those who are have to follow through or it haunts your thoughts, your dreams, your future.  As an adoptee I always believed I would adopt through the foster care system, and I probably still will, however, I fell in love with these two kids at an orphanage in Haiti and there's no turning back now.  I love them, ache for them, dream about the, envision their future and pray for them as I do for Destiny and Christopher....they are my children. 

Not everyone understands that, especially when there are so many needy children right here, in the US.  I have a personal belief that ALL children deserve a forever family, not just US kids, not just Haiti kids or China kids....ALL kids.  I can't give ALL kids a home so if someone is passionate enough about the kids in foster care to be offended at my (or anyone's) international adoption then that person needs to go do something about their passion.  I will jump off the soapbox and onto the reason I started this post......

I just read this on another blog and loved it (www.addingtotheandrews.blogspot.com).

We don't adopt to "rescue" children.

We don't adopt to become the next Brangelina.

We don't adopt to get a pass into Heaven.

She goes on to list all the reasons they are adopting so I wanted to make my own little list......

We adopt because I know the feeling of rejection and abandonment and the amazing feeling of being accepted in a family through adoption.

We adopt because every child deserves to know and believe they are valuable and special.

We adopt because kids shouldn't have to cry alone or celebrate accomplishments alone.

We adopt because we see our own kids in the kids at these orphanages and we can't handle the thought of our children having to live without the love we share with them.

We adopt because we love God and He tells us to do something to help those in need.  He tells us to help the widows and the orphans.  He puts something in each of us that we have to answer to and we are not going to ignore it to make our secure, US lives as cushy as it can be.

We adopt because our heart won't let us not.  We didn't ask to fall in love with these kids.  We didn't go to Haiti with the intent of adoption at this time in our lives.  We just went to help, like we have been for many years.  Now our heart told us to help more.

Hope in Adoption

I spend hours each night searching the internet for adoption hope...... I hope that I will learn of some miraculous new way to adopt our kids from Haiti in a month or less.  I hope I will read that Martelly has sign the new law allowing parents to be over 30 years old instead of 35.  I hope I will cry with joy because everyone is posting of homecomings.  I hope I don't cry, yet again, because of the deep sorrow and pain that we all feel in this time of wait.

I am thankful that in this agonizing time of wait that I do have hope in Christ.  My true hope isn't in the process of adoption or the people that process them and that's a really good thing, especially when it comes to adopting from Haiti.  I can't imagine what this would be like if I didn't have the knowledge that God has a plan for us and that His plan and His timing is perfect.  Even if I don't like His timing I can still rest assured that He works all things out for good.  So in the end He is the only thing that keeps me hoping in the process and knowing it will all work out in the end.

If you are going through adoption and you don't have that hope I really can't imagine how hard it is for you, but I want you to know that Jesus wants to walk through this with you so that when you don't think you can go on with the pain of waiting, He will carry you through.

Starting the process

In March of 2010 I took a team to work at an orphanage in Bercy, Cabaret, Haiti. I quickly fell in love with a little boy named Fritzon. While I love and adore all the kids there, Fritzon stood out. When I looked at him I saw my own little Christopher. Soon after, Wanna captured my heart with her energy, her spirit and the feeling she gave me that I was hanging out with my own Destiny when I was with her. Since the spring of 2010 I have been waiting to start the adoption process. The Haitian law requires adoptive parents to be 35 and since Chris and I are only 31, we could do nothing but wait. We were recently told that the new president of Haiti is just weeks away from signing in a new law changing the age to 30. We can now proceed with gathering papers and documents but we will need your support. Please consider helping support us as we work towards this adoption. Having been adopted myself I know how life changing adoption can be. I want to make a difference in the world and while I can't change the world, I can change Fritzon and Wanna's world. Will you help me do that?