Isaac is Born in Our Hearts

EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE God speaks in a way that is so undeniable that you have no choice but to listen. A few weeks ago was one of those times. All was well with our little family. With 3 kids and 7 pets (6 of which are Sea Monkeys) we were pretty settled in to life. In fact, I had recently made some visits to the doctor to make sure there would be no "surprises". We were done. Everyone was on the bus, or so I thought.

It was a cold night in February 2010 when my wife Sara brought up to me the idea of adopting again. You see we had adopted Lucie Mei from China (welovelucie.blogspot.com). It was a terrific experience and Lucie is a huge blessing to our family, but there was certainly an adjustment period bringing a 2 year old into our home. But that was 4 years ago and things were so much better now - normal really. So when Sara brought up the idea of mixing things up again I resisted. Stronger than that - I asked her not to bring it up again... ever! As a side note it's pretty much always a bad idea to tell your wife to never bring something up. I should have been open and ready to listen to her heart, but I was so selfish and closed to change in that regard I wanted to hear nothing more about it.

But thank God (and Sara) that they did not give up! A few days later I noticed Sara looking at pictures of some kids on an adoption website. As I looked over her shoulder she just turned and just smiled at me. I was still resistant, but I also knew God was beginning to move. Over the next few days I read a book we’ve had sitting around the house for years (Saving Levi). I am SO not a reader but the story of God's faithfulness was so compelling and amazing that I could not put the book down and read it in 2 nights. By that time Sara had requested info from an adoption agency called "All God's Children" - you know - just in case we ever needed it :) That packet came with another book written by the founder of the agency Jan Beazely called “The Strength of Mercy”. I read a couple chapters the night before a business trip and decided to take the book with me to finish it. Well let's just say I was glad I was the only person in my row on the plane that next day because I was in tears as I read the story of Jan and her daughter's story of adoption. But the book is way more than just an adoption story - it's an obedience story. I felt so convicted. I knew God was calling. It was undeniable at this point. God was stirring my heart not so that I would pray or give or visit but rather so that I would be the father to a fatherless child and make them a permanent part of our family. Would it be hard? Yes. Would it affect our other kids? Sure. Would it be expensive? Not for God. So we decided to do it. And what a freeing feeling that was! Those weeks of resisting the Holy Spirit were really difficult and draining. I had come full circle from not even considering adoption, to strong resistance, to submission all in less than 6 weeks. The transformation in my heart was probably most evident to Sara. She would just look at me and laugh when she thought of the time in the kitchen when I told her to never bring it up again!

So our journey to Ethiopia begins! God has given us the name Isaac and we are in the process of picking an agency. We are so very excited to see how God will unfold His plan!

What we know so far:
God has called us to adopt from Ethiopia
Ethiopia has a population of 75 million, about 5 million of whom are orphaned
The child will be a boy - probably 5-7 years old
His name will be Isaac (means "he laughs")
The process should take 12-14 months
God will supply all our needs!