WHY... ARE YOU ADOPTING? FROM ETHIOPIA?

We've been getting a lot of WONDERFUL questions lately and we truly appreciate the opportunity to share what God has been doing in our hearts with all of you. So, please, feel free to keep asking questions - it doesn't bother us at all. It's honestly very healthy for us to think back on all that God has done and remember to praise Him through it all.

An update: We received new numbers today and we are officially #45 girls, #24 boys, and #26 siblings.

So, why are we adopting? We addressed the fearful adoption questions in this post and the 'why' in our letter that we sent out to those that we do life with, by saying this - "Some of you are probably wondering what has prompted us to adopt. Well, primarily, we’ve felt so clearly directed by God to adopt, want to obey Him, and also desire to give an orphan child a family that he or she probably won’t otherwise have. God desires for orphans of all nations to be loved, cared for and adopted into Christian families – ultimately so they can become saved, and be adopted into His eternal family through Jesus Christ! There are so many things God has used to prick our hearts and move us to adopt, such as:

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction - James 1:27

He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves – Ephesians 1:5-6

So, all that to say that this is God's plan A for our family. This was not what WE thought would happen in our lives, at least not yet. However, "He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just" Deut. 32:4. 


Even though we have never tried to have biological children, we know that this is God's plan for us to become parents... and we couldn't be more excited! 


NOW, onto part 2 of the question... WHY ETHIOPIA? 


With 143 million orphans in the world, there are truly needs in every state and every country around the world. Dan likes to compare it to those called into the ministry, some are called to Georgia, some to Guatemala, some to Haiti, some to Russia. 


Is it a hard decision? YES! One that should not be taken lightly. One that we had to completely surrender to God and TRUST in His plan and direction. 


So, we did our best to not let the statistics take over our emotions. Although, the statistics in many countries, including Ethiopia are overwhelming.


Our answer to the question, 'why Ethiopia'... is that's where God led! As the body of Christ, we must respond when God calls... we must be obedient when God prompts. If we all went to Ethiopia, who would take care of the children in Illinois? And, if everyone in Illinois fostered Illinois residents, who would take care of the children in Africa?


I urge you, brothers and sisters in Christ, if God is calling YOU... the outcome will be priceless! We will soon forget these days of paperwork, of fundraising, and of waiting! 


“My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him.” –Derek Loux


Check out this article on how to support those around you who may be adopting, fostering, or considering! 

The day you've all been waiting for... :) (you may not have been, but we have!)

Saturday was a glorious day of serving the Lord through working on Lori's house!

As I thought about the grief my family has been experiencing and how my grandfathers life has drastically changed, I couldn't help but think about Lori and her boys. As they seek to put the pieces back together in their lives day by day, week by week, and year by year, our prayer is that they can look around their house and see that they are loved. See that the body of Christ came together to help them when they were in need. We rejoice together and we carry each others burdens!

After several weeks of prayer and preparation, our team of volunteers showed up at Lori's house. You see, these people didn't just give up a Saturday to do some manual labor, they have walked this road with us. When we told them about our need, they responded! They sent out letters on our behalf asking THEIR friends and family to sponsor them while they worked on Lori's house.

The donations made went to our adoption expenses through an account at Lifesong for Orphans. View our project page HERE.

We showed up Saturday morning to gray skies and a not-so-pleasant forecast. It was supposed to rain and be very windy all day. So, we forged ahead and started the smaller outside projects anticipating that we only had a short window of time to work outside.

The guys quickly got to work fixing plumbing and electrical in the basement.

We continued to work as much as we could, but were disappointed that we would not be able to do the 2 projects that would make the biggest visual impact. Lori's windows were in need of a new coat of paint and her front porch was in need of an overhaul.

By this time we decided that we could start painting the spindles on the porch, thinking that we would only get that done.

We decided to have lunch together, update everyone on our progress, and spend some time honoring Lori.

At this point, several people went home for the day since we didn't think we'd be able to progress. You could see it on all of our faces that we were still hopeful! As we continued to work, we each continued to pray and trust that whatever God had in mind for the day, He would make possible.

Soon after, the sun came out and the wind started blowing. We were able to start painting Lori's windows and when the inside projects were completed, the porch had dried enough to be painted. The crew that was still around spent time working together to complete Lori's porch. We were so excited that God brought us sunshine long enough to get everything completed!

At the end of the day, we took some time to sit and talk with Lori and caught some video clips of her thoughts about the day... she's an incredible woman with a heart for the Lord! Check out the new Lifesong t-shirt that she's sporting in the video!

We can't put into words how much we appreciate our team of volunteers, those that provided food for the day, Lori and her family, and all of you that have prayed and supported us financially. Our prayer is that this video will give you a glimpse into our Both Hands project.

As we drove home, Dan and I couldn't stop smiling and talking about all that had happened :). We pulled up to our house and grabbed our mail... I saw an envelope from US immigration and started screaming! That's right, we got our FDL from USCIS (the official US/FBI approval, in writing)!!! This day could not get any better!