Our call to adopt from the beginning, Part I: The Lord softens our hearts

"Walking by Faith...Not by Sight"   

Our call to adopt from the beginning,  Part I

The Lord softens our hearts

     “For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved. (RESV - Richard E. Stearns Version)”

― Richard Stearns, The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? the Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World 

    

      As we begin to share our story we realize that, in His amazing way, the Lord has woven together the details of our lives to get us to this point.  Adoption itself is nothing that is new to either of us.  In fact, Molly was adopted at birth, something she has always known to be unique, special, and a blessing to those involved.   Yet the idea that we would adopt a child of our own has only entered our hearts over the last few years...and that is the story we will begin to tell you here.

     We have two beautiful boys, William Charles, born in 2004 and Andrew Lucien, born in 2006.   In many ways this was what we had always imagined--two children, just like the families we grew up in.  Raising these boys, who were less than two years apart, had it's challenges and we truly felt that our lives were full.  If you would have asked us three years ago we would have told you--full!  We had no interest in adding more children to our family and, in fact, often wondered how we would properly raise the two that we had.  (How is that for faith?!)  You can imagine our surprise when the Lord put the call to adopt on our hearts!

Andrew,  Molly, William and Brian, 2011

     As He often so beautifully does, the Lord brought together a series of events that opened our eyes to the possibility of adopting a child.  Most significantly was our new perspective on walking out our faith in Jesus Christ.   Growing up in the church and believing in Jesus from an early age, we knew that we had salvation.  And we believed in His words...but were we really reflecting that belief in the way we were living day to day?  How were our lives any different because of what we believed to be true from Scripture?  The Lord was strongly convicting us on many levels.  We were coming closer to Him and closer to His heart.  We knew we could be doing so much more. 

     If you would have asked us why we had never considered adoption, honestly, it was because we knew we were not "that family."  That family was fully functional and peaceful and parenting was so natural that they felt as if they were made for.  That family had an unique relationship with the Lord where He had given them strength and vision for embracing challenging situations for His glory.  That family was financially stable enough and could afford nannies and babysitters and all of the needed extras that would make adopting manageable.  That family loved the idea of a big chaotic household with the sound of children echoing from every room.  Ladies and gentlemen--we were NOT that family. 

      Here is what we were (and I this is a bit uncomfortable to admit!): We were a family doing our best at parenting children with difficult diagnosis and temperaments; it was neither natural or peaceful.  We were a family who from the idea of adding anything to our lives that sounded like a challenge, even if it was for the Lord, because we felt, in our own understanding, that we were dealing with all we could handle.  We were a family that was following a tight budget and barely had the time or means to make it out to a date night once a month.  We were a family that craved peace and order and quiet. 

      And then the Lord shattered those ideas.

      And He began changing who we were...

     "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths."  Proverbs 3:5&6

     "Jesus said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."   Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  2 Corinthians 12:9&10