Choosing Ethiopia

A couple of years ago, during some of the darkest times of the whole infertility journey, I remember calling my Dad (and bawling my eyes out) saying, "I keep giving this over to God and it is still so hard!" He asked me, "Would you be OK if God gave you a baby, but maybe through adoption." My immediate response was, "NO!" I didn't even entertain that thought, because I was so much about what I thought I needed, what I thought I wanted, and my plans.

It's hard to describe what has happened in the past 2 years, but God has totally been working on my heart. I had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala and the Dominican Republic during the past few years. There were several experiences that happened on those trips, where I felt God tugging on my heart to consider adoption. It was through holding a little baby in my arms in the Dominican, and having little kids in Guatemala sit on my lap, that God began to soften my heart.

When our third fertility procedure failed, we were faced with a decision...spend a lot of money on IVF (the next procedure available), or spend a lot of money on international adoption. After a lot of prayer and a lot of conversation, Nate and I decided to pursue international adoption, and in particular with a Latin American country. After a lot of research, calling a lot of agencies, the doors in Latin America seemed to be closed...once again "our plan" was not "the plan!"

We wanted to adopt in a third world country and began to pray about Ethiopia. It was such a change from Latin America, yet we felt a peace and excitement about it. It's a leap of faith for us because it's so completely "out of the plan." We have begun to imagine that little Ethiopian baby in our home, and we can't contain our excitement. Our love for Ethiopia is already growing!

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