One Year Ago

It was one year ago today that God called us to adopt. Although God had been preparing us for the past 13 years before, (yes, he really planted this seed THAT long ago -before we were even married) I will forever remember this day, one year ago -the day He spoke to us. I was checking out a great friend's blog. The blog included a video of children in Ethiopia who were literally starving to death. The video showed two young girls, each laying on the ground, half dressed, with bones showing through their skin in a clearly unhealthy way. They clearly didn't have enough energy to lift themselves up, and likely had no motivation to do so considering they had no food to eat even if they could get up. The video was approximately 19 minutes long, although I don't think I made it past the first 60 seconds. I don't have any idea what the rest of the video was about, but it didn't matter. I immediately began crying and looking around my home at the things we had. We don't have a big house. We don't have all the things our society tells us we need to have to be "successful". I looked at the Starbucks cup sitting on the table, and I wondered what the $3.85 we spent on the drink could have done for these children who were literally without ANY food. I felt conviction and wondered what we could do to make a difference in the lives of these children. It was at that moment that God showed me His plan for our lives, and I knew we were called to adopt.

That evening Sean and I had the fabulous opportunity to go out on a date together, which was something we hadn't done in MONTHS. We went to my favorite Mexican food restaurant and ordered our meals. While we waited for the food to come, I shared with Sean what I had seen earlier in the day and again began bawling my eyes out. Before I could even tell him more, he looked at me and said, "We're going to adopt!"

That was the beginning. We said YES to God one year today.