Thank you so much A Child Waits Foundation! Muchisimo Gracias!!! as we would say while in Colombia. We returned from our adoption adventure in Colombia six weeks ago with our 14 year old daughter, and we wanted to tell you how thankful we are for your financial support, flexibility as our lives and plans took an unexpected turn from domestic infant adoption to international teenage adoption last summer, and your excellent communication to us and integrity to provide the promised financial aid to our agency. WOW.

 

Our young family of 4 started this adoption journey by hosting for a few days 3 boys from Rawanda who were part of the international choir His Little Feet. We fell in love with these boys in a few days and the lie was shattered that “you can’t love anyone else’s kid like you can love your own.” I learned for me, it’s 100% not true. It’s not about blood relation; it’s about need. I don’t love my friends’ kids as much as my own…but it’s not because they aren’t biologically related to me; it’s because they already have that love and don’t need it from me. Having a child in front me that wouldn’t experience a mother’s love today unless I rose to that calling was THAT piece God used to inspire me to a greater love.

 

So, with the knowledge we absolutely could love another kiddo as much as our biokids if that kiddo needed our love, we applied for domestic infant adoption. We had a 1 yr old and a 3 yr old as we were making this decision, so infant adoption seemed the best fit for our family. We were aware there was maybe a niche for us for a teen girl…maybe even a pregnant teen…but it felt too scary and too out of control. In all honesty, we chose what we thought would be the easiest and most affordable way to adopt.

 

Two years later as we continued to wait for an infant, God had all the while been growing our boys, growing our hearts, and growing our faith. The culture of infant adoption and the “competition” between families for a baby was feeling increasingly odious to us. Our hearts were feeling increasingly burdened for waiting children as we sat on the sidelines of adoption waiting ourselves. 

 

Then one day, I opened an email from our adoption agency, and there was a face and a name. It was one of the few moments in my life where God has not been gentle with me. I was immediately dizzy and in tears. The cracks that had been forming in our plan of domestic infant adoption were busted wide open in that moment. I COULDN’T keep sitting and doing nothing when there were waiting children like her. We had to change the plan now. We didn’t know what that would mean exactly, so we started asking questions about this specific girl. Is she still waiting? Does she even want to come to the United States? Does she even know that’s a possibility? Our interest in her led to several phone calls and several miracles past due dates and deadlines so that she arrived at our home 1 month later as part of a summer hosting program for waiting children. 

 

We spent 5 weeks with her being able to learn more about her needs and being able to show her how our family worked…in hopes that we could offer her a permanent place in our family, and she could have the confidence to say YES! to us. We got to work on her adoption behind the scenes before she had to return to Colombia after hosting.

 

It took another full year of paperwork before we were granted phone calls with her and then finally authorized to travel to Colombia to pick her up. And now we’re all home together! All three kids have started back to school. We’re finding our new rhythm and schedule to try and meet everyone’s needs and get everyone’s love buckets filling. It’s impossible work for us, and we continue to trust in God’s good hands to do the work we cannot do. We will be faithful with our small part of responsibility, and we will watch with awe what He does. This whole experience of adoption is like standing at the edge of the Red Sea and watching God make a way. An impossible Way…and we’ve had front row seats. All we did was show up (eventually) willing to give all we have. He created the miracle of growing love and family, and now we walk through it in faith.

 

Thank you for partnering with us in this terrible awesome amazing work of adoption. I am so grateful God was willing to do the work to adopt me too.