Adoption Journey-1

I have been working on this post for a long time now. It's long but it is going to start off our Adoption Journey! I want to write all this down and keep these memories forever. I also want to share with you what a crazy ride this has been and what it will continue to be. So here it goes....

Our Sunday School class read the book Radical by David Platt before the summer of last year. It forever changed my life. The book briefly talks about adoption and how it is amazing and how it can change your life for the better. I toyed with the idea and thought it would be kind of neat if we adopted. I kept playing around with the idea in my head but didn't really know if adoption was for us. It's really just kind of for other people, I always thought. But I prayed that if this was what God wanted for our family, then He better make it crystal clear. I think I actually told Him to "hit me with a ton of bricks" if this was His will for our lives. After that prayer I forgot about it.

At the end of last summer, my dear friend and I headed to Nashville, TN for a MOPS convention. On one of the days we were there, we attended a class with one of my most favorite speakers. Her name is Jen Hatmaker. She is beautiful, talented, and inspiring. When she walked into our session, I swore it was Sandra Bullock.

Well, maybe these pictures don't look exactly the same but they do look a lot alike. Sisters maybe? Anyway, Jen Hatmaker finished up her session by talking to us about her adoption story. It was a beautiful story. Her and her husband ended up adopting two precious children from Ethiopia. She talked about their journey and how God really showed them the way. As she was finishing up her story, I had what I like to call--my "Jesus moment." I was sitting down listening intently to her story and suddenly I had tears streaming down my face. They were not sad or happy tears but just tears. I tried wiping them away but they just kept coming faster and harder. Then my heart began to race. I felt like I was having some sort of anxiety attack. My hands began to sweat and shake. My teeth began to chatter. All this was happening while I was sitting in my chair! I could not get a grip. The more I tried to calm myself down, the worse it got. It was so so bizarre. I was completely embarrassed. I had no idea what was happening to me. Then I hear a little, quiet, stern voice inside me say, "You will adopt." That was it. Three little, powerful words. I was so overcome with emotion at that point, I had no idea what to feel. Jen Hatmaker finished up her story, everyone clapped, and she made her way down from the stage. My friend looked over at me and became very concerned. She asked me if I was sick or if I needed a doctor. My teeth were chattering so bad, I could not even speak. The tears were still running down my face, my heart was still going wild, and I had chills all over my body. I finally found a moment to blurt out, "I think I am supposed to adopt!!" That caught her off guard! You should have seen her face! We both started laughing...there was simply nothing else to do. After about a full 5 minutes of "Jesus taking over my body," I finally began to calm down. My teeth stopped chattering, my heart slowed down, my tears instantly dried up, and I could finally catch my breath. I wanted to tell Mrs. Hatmaker exactly what had happened to me while she was talking. We made our way down to where she was meeting some mom's and when it was our turn, I told her everything. I can remember telling her, "I think you just screwed up my whole world!" She laughed, held my hands, and said, "Bless your heart." She told me she would pray for me. She also gave me her email address so she could answer any of my questions. She was so sweet and I felt honored to meet her. She has her own blog. She's incredibly hilarious, so motivating, and when you read her blog it feels like you've know her forever.

               

                                http://jenhatmaker.com/home.htm

Now, I had to tell all this to my husband. How in the world would he take it? Would he be on board? I called him and told him something big was happening to me in TN. He had no idea. But I waited until I got home to tell him. That conversation was not the kind of thing you talk about over the phone.

When I did get home, the first thing I did was sit my husband down, and tell him everything that happened to me. Surprisingly, he wasn't shocked! I always did think he secretly wanted more kiddos. But he told me that what had happened to me was real and that we had better do something about it. That night he grabbed his lap top and together, we began searching for adoption agencies.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11