Why adopt?

As people find out about our decision to adopt, I know many of them will ask what led us to make that commitment. My answer is actually pretty simple: God burdened my heart so much for orphans that I walked around either with tears brimming in my eyes or streaming down my cheeks for at least an entire month. During that time, it seemed like He spoke to me every single day about adoption. I've told a few people that His message to me seemed so intense that it was almost as if He was screaming in my face telling me that we were supposed to pursue adoption - that we'd be completely disobedient if we didn't. I understand that if you don't believe in God or believe in allowing Him to guide and direct our lives, that answer might not make much sense. The thing is, my faith affects my entire life. It's everything to me. And I have full confidence that this is something that He's called us to do. In the same way that we left our familiar life in Memphis and moved to Nashville in May 2007 to enter a world of unknowns, we will take this step of obedience. We know that when times get tough (and they will), we can rest in the knowledge that this is what He called us to. Knowing that is everything for me. That's where I find security when life gets crazy.

Thinking back, I can remember the night God started stirring my heart for orphans. I don't remember the exact date, but it was late one Saturday night (in early September, I think). I had been sporadically following Katie Davis' blog, and I came across THIS post. Katie is from here, and she lives in Uganda now. She's a 21-year-old mother to 14 girls, and God is using her life to affect more people there than she could ever possibly do on her own. I don't think I've ever been convicted the way I was that night. I read and sobbed. I cried all night. I felt sad that these precious children suffer so much while I like my comfortable life here in the US. I cried because I don't think anything about paying $4 for a grande mocha when that money could be used to feed a child and help save his life. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think there's anything wrong with enjoying a mocha every now-and-then, and I'm grateful for all that God has blessed me with. I just began to see more clearly that night how the resources we have could be used for things with such greater purpose. I was so convicted that I couldn't eat anything. I kept trying to talk to Brad, and I couldn't even talk. I cried myself to sleep thinking about those sweet children, and I woke up the next morning with puffy, swollen eyes and a heart that was still broken. That night, I believe God put a calling on my life that I didn't even realize at the time. He literally began to break my heart for the poor, those he refers to as "the least of these." I began to see how close they are to His heart and how He has called us to love people and take care of not only their spiritual needs, but their physical needs as well. That's where it all began for me. Now, God was doing all these things in my heart, but I wasn't sure He was doing them in Brad's heart. Would he think I was crazy? Would he ever be interested in adoption? Only time would tell, and that's another story for another day :).