I’m an ordinary, 23-year-old girl living in the middle of Iowa. I went to college and I work an entry-level job. I’m married and I have a dog.

I’m also adopting a baby.

Rewind five years, and you’d hear 18-year-old me flippantly saying something like this: “Oh, I’d love to adopt someday!” But I didn’t take it very seriously. And I never thought I’d adopt my first child.

When Jonny and I got married, I began to take my relationship with Jesus a lot more seriously. And the more Scripture I read, the more my understanding of the God of the universe began to radically change.

I started to uncover the story a King who lived and loved on Earth without abandon. I began to catch a glimpse what mattered (and matters) to Jesus.

With new eyes, I began to see that He asks a lot of His people. To welcome the forgotten. To love without agenda. To give generously. To forgive freely. To trust completely. To walk humbly. To live radically.

One year into our marriage, our life goals and priorities began to be shaped and molded into something we could barely fathom. We realized that in our short 20-odd years, we had lived really comfortable, if not lazy, lives. We began to realize that we never had to ponder what it meant to be a disciple of Christ because we hadn’t immersed ourselves into the world like Jesus had. We didn’t know an orphan or a widow to love. We lived in an ivory tower, not among the world. We couldn’t define what the “least of these” were.

So we began to pray something very difficult. We asked God to break our hearts for the people who broke His. A friend told me that when genuine, it’s a prayer that will always be answered. I can attest to that.

We were expectant and a little impatient. We felt God was doing something awesome in our lives, but we didn’t know what.

For whatever reason, I began to feel baby crazy. I didn’t want to freak Jonny out too much (for goodness sake, I was only 21 and married for a year!) so I kept it to myself. I pondered it in my heart, if you will.

I wanted to become a mom—badly. But I began to get a super uneasy feeling when I thought about becoming pregnant. Not about being a parent, but about being pregnant. I don’t know how else to describe it except that I knew that God was telling me, “Not now.” I began to have dreams of abandoned children. Every time I flipped on the TV, something about orphans or adoption was on. I’d log on to Twitter to see someone tweeting about adopting. God was speaking to me. Clearly.

About a month later, Jonny and I were on a late-night road trip to visit family. “Kayla,” Jonny said, “This week in school, we watched a video about political unrest and genocide in developing countries. It wasn’t about orphans, but all I could think about was, what is happening to the children of the men and women who are being killed…?” He paused. I turned down the music.

I knew exactly what he was going to say. I let him finish.

“It made me think…I think we should adopt our first child,” he said, eyes on the road, glancing up to gauge my face for a reaction.

Seriously?! God had prepared both of our hearts individually for adoption. That night, we knew. We knew that God was leading us down a path that ended with a child He had intended for us before time began. We knew that we didn’t know a lot, but we knew that we didn’t have to. We weren’t on this journey alone.

We laughed at the thought of Jonny being an embarrassing dad. We giggled at the fact that I didn’t want to wear “mom jeans.”

That was a year ago.

As I write this, I’m looking at a photo of our future son, Joseph. He’s four-months-old and I already love him beyond words. He currently lives in Nigeria and we’re planning on meeting him in the first week of February. We hope to bring him home in the late summer of 2011.

With fear and trembling, and an inexplicably crazy peace, we jumped on the international adoption rollercoaster. While the ride has always been extraordinary, it hasn’t always been smooth. We have had a few hopes dissipate and a handful of dreams dashed. We became attached to a few little ones who weren’t meant for us to adopt. We’ve experienced judgmental quips from acquaintances, and even family members. We’ve faced staggering adoption fees. And for a planner like me, the waiting and the unknowing that comes with international adoption have been unbearable at points.

Adoption isn’t easy. But it is worth it. And if we can do it, you can do it.

We’re just ordinary people. We make entry-level salaries and our parents aren’t wealthy. Joseph won’t have a matching Pottery Barn Kids bedroom. But our son will be adored, treasured, and loved. Million of miles away, he already is.

Kayla and her husband, Jonny, are currently in the process of raising money to bring their son, Joseph, home from an orphanage in west Africa. You can buy a ‘Rooted in Love’ T-shirt here: http://www.journeytojoseph.com/buy-a-shirt.html Learn more about their adoption at http://www.journeytojoseph.com.

Where Are They?

Football season is wrapping up.
I don’t really like football, but Jeremiah likes it, so we listen to it in the car, and sometimes watch a game on tv.
Those guys are unbelievable. If I were forced to wear tights and run a ball in 20 degree weather while being chased by a group of huge sweaty men I would crumple up into the fetal position and cry myself to sleep.
But they are tough,brave, enthusiastic and domineering. They don’t cry when they get creamed by a 400lb linebacker. They suck it up. Because they’re men.

We’ve been watching Band of Brothers. I really like that series. It’s not just entertainment for entertainment’s sake, it’s true and real and emotional and raw. The interviews with those men make me want to cry, because they were passionate about the cause they were risking their lives for.
They didn’t complain, they carried on for the cause. They gave everything they had to give, and some gave their lives.
They knew the risks and trudged on, because they knew the reward was greater than the risks. They didn’t make excuses. Because they were men.

In America we love to celebrate manly men- men that will stand up and fight-for freedom, for the ball, for justice, for peace.

But something I’ve come to notice as these months of researching and reading and waiting pass:
In the defense of orphans, where are the men?
Historically and Biblically, it is the women who are nurturers, the care-givers. Men are protectors and providers. They hunt, we gather. They fight, we stand behind them. They go out, we keep the home fires burning. But in the war for orphans, the women seem to lead the armies. Why is that? Is it not a worthy cause?
Where are the fighting men who will do whatever it takes to rescue abandoned and abused children?
The brave men who will stand up to a society that says 2 kids is enough, that Christianity is a white religion made to comfort old ladies, and that the orphan crisis is not our problem ?
The broken-hearted men who will cry out to Christ on behalf of dying children?
The men who will ask God to show them the way, to lead them through unfamiliar territories and provide for their families against all earthly odds if they choose to obey Him?
The pastors who will preach James 1:27 and Luke 10:27?

Where are they?

I’ve seen wonderful, Godly men raise their hands in worship of our Savior during church, men who lead their families in love and reverence of God, then say they could never afford to adopt.
I’m not judging them, because I used to feel the same way, but the God we worship is the same One who CREATED THE UNIVERSE! He made everything from nothing!!

He parted the sea, and turned water into wine, and raised the dead!!

When someone says that to me, I want to jump up and down and scream:

He can provide! He can provide! He WILL provide!

If we will just.let.Him.
If we will just.obey.
If we will give.it.over.

Fear of the financial costs of adoption is the #1 reason Christian families don’t adopt.
Satan’s lies are working.
When we say that we can’t afford adoption, what we are really saying is that we believe God is insufficient, powerless, and uncaring. And He is none of those things!

“Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.” Ps. 54:4

“But I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me.” Ps. 55:17-18

“So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” Heb 13:6

“There should be no poor among you, for in the land the Lord you God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you…” Dt 15:4

“Perfect love drives out fear…” 1 Jn 4:18

Our lives are not our own.
We Christians like to say that.
It’s not about me.

What if Jesus would have made the same {lame} excuses we do?
What if He had not chosen to adopt us as sons and heirs?
What if He had sat back and decided we weren’t worth the trouble?
What if He had said:
“Oh, gosh, I just don’t know. I mean, we don’t really have the room for all of them here, and we could never afford it. What would it do to our savings? And what would our retirement look like? And they look nothing like us-what would everyone think? We may not get invited to parties anymore. We might have to move to make room, and that’s not really in our schedule right now. It’s just too much work, I mean, they don’t even speak the same language, and they are so dirty! They’ve done some pretty bad things, and that’s a lot of baggage to deal with. I’m just not ready for that kind of commitment.Some of them are sick- some even have HIV and AIDS and man, that’s just too sad to deal with, so we should just leave it to someone else, because surely someone else will come along and save them all. It’s not really our problem, I mean, they’ve done it to themselves. ”

Think about this:
If you are a believer, you have been trans-racially adopted!
Where are the Godly men who will lead the armies and fight for the souls of 147 million lost children who will never know the Savior they love and claim to live for if they don’t show Him to them?

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions were his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them.” Acts 4:32-34

For a man’s perspective, read this

Bricker Blog

Our family is on that long roller coaster ride that I’m sure many of you have been on.  You know I’m not talking Disney World!  It’s called ADOPTION.  Currently we are buckled in and coasting on that part of the roller coaster that is not so bad.  We are in the process of adopting a 4-5 year old boy from Ethiopia. We have been waiting almost 6 months now on the Gladney waiting list.  My husband and I have two daughters, ages 13 and 9 and are so excited to be adding to our family through international adoption.  The average wait time for the age and gender we are requesting is 9 months so hopefully this roller coaster ride will make a turn soon and we’ll all start shouting “Wheeee” when we get to the next stage!

I am a stay-at-home mom that loves being creative.  You may know me from my Africa ornaments.  I have an Etsy shop called From Africa to Your Heart http://www.etsy.com/shop/EthiopiaAdoption where I sell all things Africa related. It’s been a busy fall making ornaments!  You may have even visited our blog before: http://jenkinsethiopiaadoption.blogspot.com/

I thought I would share a fun project with you that is inexpensive and fairly easy…a Journal.  The ladies in our Sunday School class had a gathering a few years ago and we all made these.  The one I’m going to create below is an adoption journal. Think of what a great gift this would make for someone.  Save all the photos that people send you this year in their Christmas cards and if you’d like to give them a gift at some point in the year, pull out that photo because you can use it in this craft!

Supply List

• Composition Notebook (you’ll see an example in the photos below)
• 2-3 Pieces of coordinating Scrapbook Paper
• Rubber Cement
• Ribbon
• Photograph
• Embellishments of Choice
• Scissors
• Glue Dots
• Mod Podge (Optional)

Instructions

1. Lay out your first piece of scrapbook paper and with a ruler, cut out a portion that fits size of the notebook.

2. After you cut off the bottom portion of the paper so the paper now fits the size of the notebook, you’ll glue it starting on the back as seen in the next photo. I highly suggest rubber cement as it won’t curl your paper.  The paper should wrap around onto half of the front of the notebook.

3.  Now cut another piece of coordinating scrapbook paper in the same way you cut the first piece. This one will be glued to the front and wrapped around onto the inside of the cover.

4. Your notebook should now look like this.  For extra durability, you can optionally add a thin coat of Mod Podge to the front and back.

5. Now,  take a photo and glue it onto the front. You can embellish the front any way you’d like.

6. If you’d like to add a ribbon, use glue dots to attach the ribbon around the front and back of the notebook and the finished product will look something like this:

You can cover the inside front and back cover completely as well.  Really, the way you design this is up to you.  I have made these in the past as gifts and you can use themed paper for the person you’re giving it to.  Here’s a few ideas.

1. Use scrapbook paper featuring music notes and make a notebook for your child’s music teacher.

2. Use teaching themed scrapbook paper and make a notebook for your child’s teacher.

3. Use sports themed scrapbook paper and make a notebook for your child’s coach.
As you can see, the possibilities are endless. If you have any questions about the instructions, feel free to email me at and I will be glad to help!

Debi Jenkins

While my parents were in the process of adopting my oldest baby sister, they were asked to keep a newborn for a short period of time since they were licensed foster parents. The expected outcome was that this baby would return to one of her biological parents soon after my parents got her. The longer my parents fostered her, the harder it grew to let her go for visits w/ her bio parents. As the older sister to all my siblings, I know the heartache I felt thinking a precious baby I’ve grown to love and adore might not be in my life forever. I can’t imagine the heartache my mom and dad felt. Much praise goes out to anyone who has had to deal with that. However, after two years of the unknown, my youngest baby sister was by a blessing from God, adopted!

We are the Johnson family. God placed adoption on our heart in September of 2009 while we were in the beginning months of sponsoring a child from Sierra Leone, West Africa. Our sponsored child’s name was Kevin, he was 9 months old and had been abandoned at the hotel our American team was staying at. His father is a paraplegic and cannot provide proper care for him. To make a long story short we have been in the process of this adoption for a year now and finally have prayerfully gotten to the final stages of the adoption. We also just made the decision to also welcome a 9 year old boy that also lives in the same Orphanage Kevin lives at that both my husband and I feel in love with. His name is William.

The biggest challenge for us is not opening our hearts and home to more children, but it is in finding the finances to make this happen.  We estimate our total cost for adoption fees, document preparation, home study, airfare, travel, attorney fees, etc. to be $21,000 – that’s certainly money we don’t have, but we know God is faithful and is leading us to trust Him.  By God’s grace we’ve been able to pay the initial $8,200.

Lifesong (www.lifesongfororphans.org) has graciously given a Matching Grant of $5,000 to help pay the remaining adoption expenses. Every dollar received up to $5,000 will be matched!

Will you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us pay the remaining $12,800 in adoption expenses, to bring our sons home?

If you would like to be a part of God bringing Kevin and William home, you can send your tax-deductible gift between now and February 9^th 2011 to the address below.  Lifesong is a trusted organization administering the funds on Kevin and William’s behalf, and will pay adoption expenses out of funds received.

Please make checks payable to:  Lifesong. You may preference how the donation might be used by writing “preference Johnson #1693 Adoption” in the memo section of your check.  (*Note:  In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong which retains full discretion and control over its use.)

1.      Mail checks to:

Lifesong for Orphans

Attn: Johnson #1693 Adoption

PO Box 40 /202 N.Ford St.

Gridley, IL  61744

2.      You can also give directly thru Paypal thru this link http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/donation.html MAKE SURE to note in the comments section PREFERENCE JOHNSON #1693 ADOPTION or this will not be applied to our account.

Thank you so much for allowing us to share and partner with you in bringing our sons home to their forever family. You can follow our blog for adoption updates at www.johnsonlove5.blogspot.com

God Bless,
Rich and Tiffany Johnson

Adoption ruined my “life”…it might ruin yours too.

So, rewind 4 years.  My wife Christy and I were living a good life in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  We were pastoring a church that we had planted 5 years prior and things were very good.  We loved where we were living, enjoyed what we were doing and were very content.   We had 3 biological children, all of whom were adorable kids, 2 cats and a Golden Retriever living in a century old farmhouse surrounded by farms, countryside and could watch incredible sunsets out our kitchen window.   Things were very good.

Christy and I had talked about international adoption from time to time through the years, however I kept dragging my feet.  I wanted it to be the right timing for us to start the process.   Then on the night before Thanksgiving 2006, I broke the news to Christy – “I think it is time for us to start the adoption process.”   That night we stayed up half the night researching countries and agencies and trying to figure out where to start.   It took us awhile to find the right country for us and the right agency, but by May 2007 we had submitted out application and our full dossier that September and the wait began.  Like most adoptive parents we were so excited.  What an intense time full of ups and downs as we waited for that referral call!

While we were waiting, we sensed God starting to stir within us a transition coming.   We stared to feel like our time in Lancaster was coming to a close and that within the next couple of years we would be moving from the area to do something different.  Our plan was to move to Philadelphia and plant another church…but as many times can be the case, it seemed that God had other plans.

In May 2008 we got the call with a referral for beautiful little 5 month old Hanna Tessema from Southern Ethiopia.   We were stunned and so full of anticipation at how God was bringing this little girl into our family.  Our kids were stoked.  Our friends and family were supportive.  We could hardly wait until September 2008 when we traveled to Addis Ababa to welcome Hanna into our family.   Our trip to Ethiopia was amazing.  Our agency was incredible and their on the ground staff was top notch.  We took some extra time to travel while we were in Ethiopia and were amazed by the beauty of the country, the people, the culture, the history and the heritage.  We left having welcomed Hanna into our family and with a warmth in our hearts for Ethiopia.   Adoption had powerfully impacted our family forever.  And, now our plan was to go back to the US, settle into life and take on whatever God had in store for the next leg of the journey of faith.

There was a problem with that plan, however.  We couldn’t get Ethiopia out of our hearts and heads.  I walked around dazed and confused for weeks – in an Ethiopian fog which I just could not shake.  We had spent time working with the poor in Jamaica and in Bolivia before, and the return culture shock always had to be worked through, however this was different.  Could it be that this was the next thing that God had in store for us?   Could it be that this was a tool He was using to draw us to move to Ethiopia?  Christy was “in” long before I was.   I dug my heels in and felt that our best scenario was to just stay in the US, plant another church and take occasional trips to Ethiopia to serve.  However, God was not done with me and He used some pretty intense ways of speaking over the coming months about Ethiopia and His intentions for us there.

By March of 2009 Christy and I were on a plane to Addis Ababa to take a scouting mission to see what God might put in our hearts.  By the end of that week God had seared Ethiopia in our hearts and we knew that we would start attempting a process of moving our family to Ethiopia.  God had not only seared Ethiopia in our hearts, but specifically the poorest of the poor.  We felt like God had given us a way forward.  In September of 2009 we said goodbye to all of our dear friends in Lancaster, gave away or sold most of our belongings and moved in with Christy’s parents to wait to raise the rest of our funding.  On November 5 we flew out of Dulles and were enroute to our new life in Ethiopia.

Here I sit one year later and am stunned at what God has done over this past year.  There has been plenty of joy and plenty of pain to go around.   We have had major ups and major downs along the way.   We’ve lost friends and gained new ones.   We’ve had false starts and waited too long on other things.   Our kids have thrived and are in the middle of their element here.   I am in the middle of doing some of the most difficult things I have ever tried in my life.   I am in the middle of a process of learning a very difficult language, learning culture, writing proposals to a foreign government, helping to see an NGO form here while also overseeing the formation of a 501c3 in the States.  I am not an administrative guy, yet God’s grace is apparent.

When I say that Adoption ruined my life, I really mean it. My predictable, experienced, middle class, suburban experience is long gone.   I now find most days that I am over my head and even the simplest of tasks can take days to accomplish.  Even one year in, everything is still new and every day is full of ups and downs and the unpredictable.

However, the life that I now have is off the charts.  I never quite imagined that life could be so full.  Everyday is an adventure which God takes us on – teaching us how to trust, how to risk, how to stretch so far that without His intervention we will fall flat on our faces.  It is a place that we wouldn’t change for the world.   We now live in Korah, and view the trash dump from our windows.  We are surrounded by the poorest of the poor and are in the midst of developing holistic ministry to the most vulnerable of families – to care for children in a Day Care setting whose parents currently take them to the dump for the day or take them to work in dangerous situations…to see them get food, healthcare, clothing, hygiene, and care during the day while also helping their families to become more sustainable and healthy themselves.   We also have plans for an afterschool program and an Orphan House down the road.   I feel under-qualified in most areas, yet this is what God has put in our hearts…and He is stretching us every step of the way.

Along the way God brought a scripture to mind that guides us – “God sets the lonely in families.”  We want to do whatever we can to both see children able to stay within their families and be cared for there as well as for both the orphan and the widow to be welcomed into family.   While we have those times where we feel underqualified and overwhelmed in the process, we also feel God’s Presence with us.  These are His people, the people whom He has chosen to be closest to…and we sense His leading, His guiding and His provision of whatever grace is needed for this moment in time.

I thank God for adoption and how He used in our lives to do something much deeper for our family.  I thank God that He used adoption to not only expand our family, but also to expand our world and our faith.   I thank God that He cared enough about us to “ruin” our lives for Him, for the poor, for the fatherless and the vulnerable.  He used adoption as a call to partnership with Him which has taken us on a journey in which we will never be the same.  Proceed with caution… Adoption may ruin your life. too.  Actually, I pray that it does.

Jerry Shannon.  wife: Christy Shannon
kids: Joshua (11), Micah (8), Caia (5) and Hanna (almost 3)
organization: Embracing Hope Ethiopia
website: www.embracinghopeethiopia.com
address: po box 145217, addis ababa, ethiopia

Guided Steps

Imagine with me for a moment…you have traveled a long way, you have had a long journey, little sleep and no one understands.  You have been on this journey for what feels like an eternity.  You are tired and weary and emotionally exhausted but you know that you are following God’s sovereign plan for you.  No question about it.  You finally reach your destination drag yourself and your wife up to the door of a place to stay and all you hear is…”No room.”
Now I am sure you are already picturing the true story that I have just put you in.  You are Joseph in the story of Jesus’ birth.  You have gone down a path that very few understand, you are and your wife Mary are certain you could not be more in God’s will if you tried.
Now imagine again with me….you are weary and excited.  You have collected papers from everywhere, been to a notary so many times that they know you by name, you send a Christmas card to the UPS store because they are like family, you own a fire proof, water proof safe, you ask for postage as a Christmas present, your facebook page is riddled with fundraisers of yours and every other blogger friend you have, and at times you appear to be a square peg in round world.  You know what the word Dossier means and how many pieces of paper are needed to complete it.  For some, your life has been counted by monthly numbers, for others it has been counted in how many days are left in your giveaway.
Now I am sure that for those that have or are in the process of adopting are picturing their adoption journeys.    You are probably thinking of your “Meetcha Day” or “Gotcha Day” or dreaming of the one to come.  I know that I am anxiously awaiting that day!
So what does an adoption journey have to do with Joseph?
Jesus was a child born of Joseph’s heart.  Joseph was blessed to become a Father to the Fatherless.  Jesus becoming fully human was adopted by his earthly father, Joseph.
Our adoption journey is not quite the same as Joseph’s story.  However, God has directed our steps in this process as well.  My husband and I had the typical “how did you meet” story.  We got set up on a blind date, discussed adoption on that first date, and got engaged one day less than a month.  Typical, right?
Adoption has been on our hearts and our minds since our first date back in 2003.  We started the process of adoption in 2005 and found out that we were expecting our first son shortly after completing the home study.  So we put adoption on the shelf and were blessed by one more addition to our family; a daughter.  Shortly after the birth of my daughter my heart was overcome with an aching to hold the little one we started out for so long ago.  We started researching adoption and decided on Ethiopia.
Before we knew it, our baby girl was a year old and we started the paperwork to adopt.  As we getting ready to send it off we decided to look around just one more time because Ethiopia had just put into effect the two trip rule.  We were unsure of how this would work for our family.  As we did we ran across a new program for Uganda.  We decided to head that direction instead…only to have the door slam shut.  Still moving along we then decided to pursue adoption through the DRC (Congo).  We searched for the perfect agency and found it.  I talked with the director several times and loved her heart for the children.  We filled out the application and were ready to send it off when we learned that they were putting their program on hold because they were concerned about some problems.  Door number two slammed shut.  This was a little disheartening, but we dusted our shoes off and went in search of our child again.  We finally settled on Rwanda.  It is a beautiful country with beautiful people.  We were accepted, but not without having the intake coordinator try to persuade us to go with Ethiopia instead.  We were resolved however, and pursued Rwanda.  We were almost done with our Dossier when we learned that Rwanda was closing for an unknown period of time and we would not make the cutoff date.
This time around my heart was overcome with grief.  This journey had seemed so long already and we now were without a plan.  We had learned about so many countries already and fallen in love with so many beautiful cultures, and we were feeling lost.  After much prayer and some tears we decided to transfer over to Ethiopia.
When we transferred we decided to look at the waiting children list because we had been waiting all this time and we decided we really didn’t want to wait on a list.  We didn’t want to wait on a list when there was a list with children waiting for us.
Then we got a call from an agency saying that they had a sibling group that needed a family….would we be interested in looking at them.  “YES!”
We had already said yes in our hearts before the little loading symbol stopped circling.  Once we saw their faces, we became a family.
We thought we knew where our child was, we searched all over Africa; but God knew our children were waiting in Ethiopia all this time.  He directed our steps to create our family.  We do not have the same story as Joseph, but just as Joseph adopted Jesus before he ever saw His face we too adopted our kids in our hearts before we ever saw their faces.
God has presented us some wonderful examples in His word of how to carry out James 1:27.  For us adoption is not just following God’s plan but also filling the holes in our hearts.
“In his obedience, Joseph demonstrated what his other son would later call “pure and undefiled” religion, the kind that cares for the fatherless and the abandoned (James 1:27)”.

-Russell Moore….http://www.russellmoore.com/2006/07/27/why-evangelicals-support-israel/

No wonder Jesus had such a heart for the Fatherless…..

Susan Allee
Allee-fam.blogspot.com