The start of something huge

We are so excited to announce our decision to adopt a child from Ethiopia!! God has been calling us both to something big, but we just didn't quite know what it was. I first felt God tugging at my heart to adopt a couple of months ago. After reading the book, "A Hole in Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns (pres. of World Vision), I knew that was the direction we needed to take. Shane wasn't quite as certain, and had to process it all for a few weeks. But we are both fully on board and so excited to see what God has in store for us through this journey. There are lots of don'ts in the bible, but there are tons of do's as well- though sometimes those are easier to overlook. One of the do's is to care for the poor, widows, and orphans. It's said many, many times. This is where God's heart is and that's where we want our hearts to be as well.
My heart has been in Africa for a long time, but now even more so after my mission trip to Kenya. So where to adopt from was never really a question in my mind- it was to be Africa. There aren't very many open adoption countries in Africa, but Ethiopia is one of them (which happens to be directly north of Kenya!:)). We don't know which child God has for us, but we know He knows already. We've been praying for our child everyday and will continue to do so until he is safely home with us. Well, of course we'll continue to pray then too:). We've put on the official forms that we will adopt either gender and anywhere from birth to age 2, but we know that if God has someone else for us, we'll follow His leading.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. We know it won't be easy, but God did not call us to a life of leisure- He called us to serve Him in every way we can- and we are thrilled that He called us to adopt!