Raleigh and I knew we wanted to eventually have a child, but we never discussed adoption as the means to expand our family. This changed in the Spring of 2008.
In April, Katherine Arnold Wolf (http://www.katherinewolf.info/) suffered a devastating stroke. She was 26 at the time- a young mother and wife. Raleigh and I both attended Samford with Katherine and her husband Jay. We did not know them very well, but did know of them. Katherine was Miss Samford one year and has a personality that lights up a room. Her love for the Lord truly shines through her. Once I learned of her stroke, I began to feel God lead me to pray for her full recovery more than I've ever prayed for anyone. I felt the call to intercede on her behalf without ceasing. Her experience began growing my prayer life exponentially. Raleigh and I had many conversations about what it means to pray without ceasing. Raleigh and I both desire to live our lives in constant dialogue with God as one way to 'pray without ceasing.' We also agreed that there are times when God calls us to be prayer warriors for others and spend time on our knees in uninterrupted prayer for others. This is what God was calling me to do for Katherine. I felt God teaching me how to love others well during this time, but I did not know that this journey of my heart would continue.
In May, the Chapman family's youngest daughter, Maria, died during a tragic accident. The journey of my heart continued as I wept for this family and again felt the call to intercede on their behalf. It was undeniable that God was transforming the way I love and care for others. God continued to stretch my prayer life in ways I had never experienced before as I prayed for this family. During this time, I was reminded that the Chapman family had adopted three daughters. I did not feel called to adopt at this point, but I did desire to learn more about the process.
Raleigh and I went to the beach in June, and I purchased the book The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans. As I read this book, I learned about the Chinese population policy that began in the 1980s, which restricted families to one child. This policy was established because China’s leaders believed that the countrywas overpopulated. The result was that thousands of babies, almost all of them girls, were abandoned by their parents and had to be placed in orphanages. My heart wept as I thought about the thousands (maybe millions) of children in Chinese orphanages. I know that God desires to place children in families. My heart felt the call to adopt. Raleigh and I knew we wanted children one day and when we discussed adoption we thought of countless reasons why we should adopt. We kept asking each other Why Not? instead of Why? We have the desire to raise a child, the love to give a child, and the resources to support a child, so WHY NOT adopt a child?
Over the next month God continued to open our eyes and hearts to the needs of orphans all over the world. There are millions of orphans around the globe that need a family. We began researching international adoption and attended an International Adoption informational meeting at Bethany. In big and small ways, God continues to confirm our call to adopt.
Raleigh and I agreed that we need to be in a home before we begin adoption. We close on a house July 3oth. We continue to pray for God to give us wisdom and discernment during this process. It was not what we planned. Adoption takes much longer than the typical 9 months of pregnancy. Adoption does not fit my "life schedule" of when I anticipated I would be a mother. Yet despite all this, I feel a peace about this decision so much that I feel that we might be living in disobediance of God's will if we do not at least continue to prayfully explore adoption.
Our journey continues...
