Hearing the Call to Adopt

We were absolutely enamored by everything in Africa. We knew the Lord was doing something in our hearts. We started praying for missionaries in Africa, and we started supporting (3) different missionary families in Africa. We had several friends and family that started asking us if we were going back to Africa soon or if we had even considered moving there. We pretty much decided that we didn't want to move there, mostly because we didn't believe my health would allow it.

And then a strong burden began to formulate and cultivate in our lives. By the end of 2011, Jenn was convinced that the Lord would have adoption in our future. She asked me several times if we could adopt throughout 2011, but the thought of paying nearly $30,000 for an adoption scared me. However by the beginning of 2012, I began to sense something stirring in my life. In January, Jenn straight up asked me if we could adopt. She had read several books and she said that everything within her desired adoption. She obviously was wanting to adopt from Ghana.

Right before Chinese New Year (January 23rd, 2012), I was invited out to eat for the Chinese New Year by some friends of ours. I'm still not sure how it all worked out, but I ended up going out to eat with several of our friends and Jenn ended up going to an adoption conference at a local church. While I was at the dinner, Pastor Ron and I ended up chatting about adoption. He asked me what I thought about it. I told him that I knew it was biblical. We all memorize James 1:27 when we are in grade school. Pastor Ron responded that "the truest form of discipleship was adoption." All of a sudden, something triggered inside of me and I knew right then and there that God was calling me to adopt as well. The very next morning, the Lord spoke to me in my quiet time from Psalms 41 regarding taking care of the weak and oppressed.

After the church service, I walked up to Jenn as she was talking with some friends, and I said "I'm in" and walked away. She yelled back, "wait, you're in for what? The adoption?" I said, "Yes." I'm in." Her smile told me that she was overjoyed.

From that moment on, we started preparing, saving and investigating adoption. We ended up choosing Adoption Advocates International in the state of Washington as our adoption agency. They are a great organization and we were thrilled with the Ghanaian director, Anita Gillispie. I also found out that the Adoption Tax Credit would most likely be approved by Congress in late 2012 and that gives international adopting families a $14,000 tax credit. And so along with our other investments, the adoption would be paid for. The Lord was testing my faith, and when I said yes, he opened up our finances in a huge way.