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Adopting From: Ethiopia

ONE. That was the word that kept coming up over and over. In every Bible Study we did. In every sermon we heard. Everywhere we turned, the word ONE was being ingrained into our hearts. As we heard and saw the plight of orphans around the world-hunger, malnutrition, disease, neglect, and insufficient numbers to defend them--I knew then that we would have to act. There was no choice. But I was afraid-afraid of what it meant for our family and if we were ready for it. Was this God's calling for us or was I just reacting from emotion? Ginger had been on board for a long time-she was actively involved in several orphan care and advocacy ministries. I had always supported her as she went on mission trips and spoke at churches about defending the fatherless. But I supported her from a distance, doing the typical guy thing, coming up with all the excuses-"We alreadyhave 3 children, we simply can't afford more". "We have a greatfamily dynamic-what if they come in and disrupt that?" Still stubborn,God brought in the heavy artillery. One of our children began to text me from her mom's phone, "Dad, can't we just save ONE?" Over, andover, and over. We went to an adoption conference and one of the keynote speakers said something to the effect of "Don't disregard that Godmay be speaking through your children to move you to adopt." Boom. The coup de grace. After seeing every sign from God except the flashing neon one, I finally laid down all the worldly excuses that I had used to run away from our calling. God continued to make clear adopting was His will for our family and we are happy to say that we began the adoption process. It's not been easy - you could say we've actually had two failed adoptions in the last 3 years. BUT God is faithful. In a quick and honestly bizarre turn of events, God directed us to our child on 4/30/12. A waiting child, paper ready and only waiting because he is considered "old" at 5/6ish years of age. Our hearts were broken. Ginger couldn't stop crying over his sweet little face. I had always wanted to adopt an older child but had never voiced that to Ginger. On that Monday - we left ONE agency and went to another. We left ONE country and went to another. We have ONE minor change in our home study to be a paper ready family. Our broken hearts from failed adoptions began to heal. And, ONE little boy will no longer be an orphan. HELP US BRING HIM HOME