Why are we adopting?  There are many reasons.  I want to explain some of them to help some who don’t understand why we would do such a thing and to share with those who love the thought of it. 

First, a quick update on the process for those who have been following our saga.  We have all paperwork completed for the home study.  We now will wait for our home study visit.  We are also beginning to work on paperwork for our dossier to send to Russia and complete the required education.  Our prayer request is that funds continue to work out.  So far our checking account has only decreased by $6 despite the amount we’ve spent or preparing to spend.  (Check out Shannon’s blog for more about that).  We are also trying to determine if we should take our kids with us when we travel to Russia.

Most who we have encountered have been extremely supportive about our decision to adopt, but some are not.  Some think it is an absolutely wonderful thing that we would consider adoption.  Some think we are insane for bringing in more children to our home when we already have “a perfect family.”  Most do not truly understand that someone may want to adopt a child for the sake of adopting a child.  Most people- I include my past self in this- believe adoption is only something that someone does if they aren’t able to have their “own” children.   So why would someone who already has biological children want to add more? 

First, I am a Christian.  There are some important things about adoption and Christianity.  If you are a Christian you are adopted.  Adoption is inseparable from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

•  ¹ Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, ² but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. ³ Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. ⁴ But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” (Galatians 4:1-6, New King James Version)
• ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
  (Ephesians 1:4-6, New King James Version)
• ¹⁵ “If you love Me, keep My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:15-18, New King James Version)

Another reason is that I am a Christian.  (Wait, wasn’t that the first reason? yes, keep reading).  As Christians God gives us tasks He wants us to do, and we must follow through.  We usually say, “God called me to do this,” but I want to explain how I know God has called me to do this.  It’s an easy phase to throw around, but what does it really mean?  Let’s face it, in our pluralistic society anybody can say anything and claim it as being God’s will.  And most accept it without another thought, but many then proceed to use that as an excuse to disregard God.  After all, those who flew airplanes into office buildings claim they were following the will of God.  So, a bit of background to explain from where I am coming from.  I believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of God.  The bible was written by men through the inspiration of God (see 2 Tim 3:17).   In the original language it is inerrant.  It is sufficient to answer all questions God wishes to reveal to us.  Read this next part very carefully:  God loves communication and has many ways to give us information.  He may communicate with us through dreams, teachers, friends, nature, or any other way.  We must be exceedingly cautious that when we think God is communicating with us that it does not contradict scripture.   If we think God is trying to tell us something, we pray about it, we read His word, and we obtain counsel from godly men and women. 

God began to work on me a long time ago.  I mentioned in an earlier post that between May and August we had chosen to adopt, but our decision did not start there.  I knew that when Sam was born in 2005 that I did not want Shannon pregnant again.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted more children. In fact, I told people emphatically that two was enough.  We had our boy and a girl, our perfect family, and our plans that we had lain down before we were married had been carried out.  Yet I couldn’t shake the thought of more kids.  Yet I pushed it from my mind.  I decided it was my wife’s decision because she would be the one who would be doing the most work, at least in the beginning.  She would be the one to stay with them through the day.  We did not want to and decided that was the plan.  Occasionally I would bring up the subject and ask her if she still did not want to, and the answer was always, “not even a chance.”

I began to pray more earnestly about it in April & May of this year.  My prayer was, “God, please reveal to me if this is your plan for us.  Please let me know if this is what you want us to do.”  I told Shannon that if we were going to adopt, we should act now because we were running out of time.   Our children are at the perfect age and we are at a really good age.  Our finances are in order with student loans almost completed.   I am fortunate to make a really good salary.  She was shocked because she had been thinking the same thing.  It was time.  We began to move forward. 

Two things I want to point out about this.  First, why did I even pray?  It was something moving within me that made me want to know if it was something I should do.  Second, Shannon was already thinking very seriously about it, and when I approached her this time she almost broke down because she was praying the same things. 

The third reason is that I am a Christian. (See a pattern?)  I will explain in a future post, but something happened in 2008 that changed my life.  No longer do I desire to have a really big sprawling house, or a nicer car, or a condo down on the gulf coast.  I began then to look at the big picture, not as a selfish individual, but as just an insignificant wave in the ocean of humanity as life is being played out.  For me to keep the amount of money I make and waste in on myself is just too selfish for me to continue.  I can no longer squander the resources with which I have been blessed.

In the beginning, I had doubts if this is something we should do.  But as I was questioning my decision, I began to think that there were children in an orphanage somewhere without a family.  The idea that the children we will adopt are already waiting was too much to ignore.  That thought has shifted again.  It is no longer that “there are children in an orphanage” but that my children are in an orphanage.   Right now.  Please, God, speed this process.