One year ago today we got a no from the first BM we presented to. As I read it all again the emotions come flooding back.... hope, excitement, frustration... all lumped together. Was it worth it in the end? Absolutely! As God called us and we began to walk through the adoption process, He began to change our view on adoption as well. At first it was a solution to grow our family. A very selfish desire within us to have more children prompted us to travel this road. If we had been fertile would we have considered adoption? I have no idea, but I am guessing we would have been less open at first. But somewhere along the way we read a book - Adopted for Life, that changed our view. Essentially, we are called to care for the orphans and widows, - James 1:27. That can hit you hard - It is our RESPONSIBILITY to care for orphans.
Now, I don't believe we are all called to adopt, but we can all help in some fashion. First of all, we can pray for those who are adopting. Pray for wisdom and discernment as they make decisions along the way. Pray for the birth mom and for that precious baby that God is bringing them through her selfless act.
But there is another way we can help as well. If you are not familiar with adoption - it is very expensive. For most couples the financial cost is a huge hurdle in adopting. When we began our process, we knew we had a possible way to fund our adoption. We owned a piece of real estate that we put on the market 6 months before we ever decided to pursue adoption. In a declining economy, that wasn't promising, but it was possible. We were finally able to sell it one year later, just a few months before Pumpkin was born. Most days I worried to death if we would get it sold on time. But as always, God was faithful and the timing was perfect!
So what can we do to help? Well, I am so glad you asked! First, if you personally know someone who is adopting, find out if you can help. You may not be able to spare much, but believe me, every dollar helps. Secondly, I urge you to read this post from our Adoption Consultants about a fund they have created to help clients and some creative ways to raise those funds.
Now where does all this leave me? Well, quite frankly, convicted! The motherly instinct in me wants to adopt again, I mean, He commanded us to take care of orphans, right? Will we? I just can't say for sure at this point. Our prayer is that God will make it clear if that is His plan for us. And if he does, well, it will take a definite leap of faith that He will provide the funds! But it also convicts me that I could probably just spare a $20 bill to help someone else for sure!
“Once our eyes are opened, we can’t pretend we don’t know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act.” Proverbs 24:12
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