Many people ask us why we are adopting. For some adoption is an idea they haven't heard of or know much about, for others it doesn't make sense and they think we should focus on the children here in our country. Here is my story...

            Ever since I was a little girl I have loved children. My mother provided daycare out of our home for a few years, and even at the young age of five my mother called me the little mommy. I was always toting around the babies and toddlers and nurturing them. There has never been a single doubt in my mind as to if I wanted to be a mother. The question has rather been when or how many do I want.

            I’m not sure exactly when the moment came when I knew I wanted to adopt. I believe it was a gradual process that started when I was still a young girl. When I was probably in middle school my parents mentioned a few times about maybe adopting a little girl from . I was always eager and begging them to move forward! I’m not sure why they never did, but that excitement has always stuck with me.

            Once I started going on mission’s trips the desire to adopt was reaffirmed. Seeing the little children and babies who barely had any clothing and were malnourished broke my heart. I wanted to bring them all home with me, but realistically that probably wouldn’t be the best thing for them. 

            When I started dating my husband, Scott, we talked about adoption before we even got married. We both had the desire to adopt, and I think a lot of that came from us both going to other countries and, of course, the Lord placing those desires in our hearts. About 4 months after we were married we went on a two week mission trip to , Africa . We did many things on that trip, but the day that was most memorable to me was the day Scott and I visited a baby’s orphanage.

            We spent the day with the orphanage’s director and with the children, learning why many of them were there. Many of the children’s parents had died, or simply had too many children to care for already. One little girl, in particular, brought tears to my eyes. When her mother learned she was pregnant, she overdosed on malaria medication to try to induce a miscarriage. She had severe brain damage, couldn’t speak or walk, yet she was created for a reason. Luckily, she was being adopted by a couple here in the .

            That experience sealed in our hearts God’s call for us to adopt, yet we still didn’t know when. Scott and I have now been married a little over two years. Most people ask us why we would want to adopt when we could have children of our own, as if adoption is the inferior way to bring a child into your family. But we believe that we will love this child no less than we would a biological child someday. If this is God’s plan for us, than He has created this child just for us!

            We hope this adoption will not only bring more love into our hearts, but also to the hearts of our friends and family. I am believing that God is going to use this adoption to speak to others and show them how God has adopted us into His family. God doesn’t love us, His sons and daughters, any less than He loved His son Jesus, and I am hoping that is what people see when they see us with our child.