Our adventure of starting a family and the realization that God has much bigger plans...
Adoption Dinner Fundraiser...A Reminder!
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Just a reminder that our Adoption Fundraiser is taking place next Saturday, December 10th at 5pm. We don't want you to miss this! Click on the picture below for more details:)
When I was about five years into being a Youth Pastor, I met a group of kids that changed my life. Many of you reading this, who know me personally, have probably heard me talk about them numerous times. Nate and I happened to live in the parsonage next door to the church I was serving at at the time, and would routinely come home to a group of boys that I would have described then as "rough around the edges." They dressed mostly in black, had long hair, and sometimes even had black painted fingernails. They loved to smoke, and they loved to skateboard. After a few days of watching them through our window, Nate and I went outside and brought them some sodas. We introduced ourselves, told them I was the Youth Pastor at the church, and invited them to come to youth group. While they politely declined our invitation, we continued to invite them over and over again, attempted to skate with them, and fill them with snacks. Until one day, ...
It was the night before we were ready to leave for Ethiopia that it dawned on me. We hadn’t given the necklace to Biruk yet. When we had exchanged necklaces with his birth mom ten years prior at the orphanage, we had no idea when we would give it to him. We just knew that we wanted him to be old enough to appreciate it, as it would be the only thing he would have from her. We had no idea if we would ever see her again. There have been several moments in our journey where I’ve had to pinch myself, because it has felt like I was dreaming. That night as we put our final things in our suitcases, took a deep breath, and came to the realization that we were not only taking our kids to Ethiopia, but that Biruk would in fact meet his birth mom…well, you had to pinch me, because it felt like I was dreaming. It also felt like the perfect moment to share this gift that we had been holding onto for 10 years. So we pulled out the necklace and gave it to Biruk. While words can be few and...
I remember the day like it was yesterday. We had just sat through a goodbye ceremony that included cake, popcorn, soda and coffee, all of which were used for special occasions. We had spent the last hour watching the faces of about 20 little ones, ranging from the ages of 2-14, singing their hearts out, as we held back the tears. Next to us was the little baby boy whom we had just adopted, a mere 8 months old, being held by his birth mother, a mother who had made the difficult decision to give him up for adoption. There are moments in life where words are just inadequate and this was one of them. As a couple who had experienced a long journey of infertility and was now about to embark on parenthood for the first time, we couldn’t help but feel all the feels. There were no words. Minutes later, we would find ourselves walking out to the van, holding the most beautiful baby boy, and at the same time walking alongside a mom whose grief was so tangible you could touch it. Once again,...
Comments
Post a Comment