Eleven years ago, I was reading a “Woman’s World” magazine, and one article changed my thoughts on how many children is “enough.” At the time, I thought three was plenty. My kids were ten, seven, and five. I was homeschooling them, and we had a very busy life.
Then I read an article about all the girls growing up in orphanages in China. I wept when I read the article and realized my heart had room for more. That night after dinner, I showed John the article and brought up the idea of adoption. At the time, John wasn’t interested. “These three are a handful. How can we deal with more?” Then there was the thought of cost. Adoption was/is expensive. I was disappointed, but I let the matter drop. I’ve learned over the years that nagging never works, and if God desires John’s heart to change, then He’ll do the change.
Years passed, and I mentioned adoption a few more times. I was still interested, and John was still not. Then around 2005, John surprised me by asking me if I still was interested in adoption. My eyes grew wide, and I exclaimed, “Yes!”
Over the years, God had softened John’s heart. Maybe it was due to the fact our kids were older and easier to deal with. Maybe it was because I was mentoring teen moms and we had their little kids around often (and enjoyed that!). Or maybe because God decided the time was right.
It took almost three years for us to fill out the paperwork for a Chinese adoption . . . just in time for the wait for a Chinese baby to greatly increase. We still don’t have that beautiful little Chinese girl I felt called to add to our home. We’re still waiting, and we know that the child God chooses to bring into our home in this way is going to be pretty special. And, like the way God works, there have been other surprises along the way.
Read the rest of this post on Somona Christian Home!
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Sweetness, Tricia. Love how God worked on your hubby’s heart over the years. He does that with each of us, and isn’t it so amazing?
Thanks for sharing your adoption story.
Blessings,
Andrea
It’s amazing how God works. I didn’t need to push and demand we do something … I just had to pray and wait!
Even though waiting is the hardest (in my opinion) thing to do, sometimes that’s exactly what God asks of us. I’m glad you answered that call. Look at the cuties He’s blessed you with because you waited! 🙂
Friends of our just adopted a little gal from China. The process took a year and I am so happy for them. They also have three older children and will soon be leaving for the mission field in I think South America somewhere. I always wanted to adopt as well and my hubby never felt led to adopt. We have four kids, then we were blessed to be the guardians of a 14 year old – what an adventure. We’ve also been parents to two foreign exchange students… God is good 🙂
Kathleen, we had a foreign exchange student, too. When we pray for our children–morning and night–she’s included in the list!