God Heard- Our Adoption Story---$15 for the 15th Year

My stomach full with our Sunday night treat of Casey's taco pizza, snuggled up on the couch with my husband and kids with a movie, my heart drifts to a time zone eight hours ahead of me. As I close out my day of rest, the sun is just peeking over the horizon in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nearly stirring from a nights rest, lying on the bottom bunk in a room full of boys, a young teenager is waking. Living in orphanage life for four years, he has persisted in prayer for a family, his heart filled with child-like faith. This child is my son. In 2008, we adopted our first two precious children from Ethiopia, Joshua and Julianna. What a blessing they became to our lives. Our hearts for the orphan only enlarged after being in Ethiopia. In 2009, God led us to a powerful group of moms from across the United States, all with a passion for a group of boys living in a government orphanage in the capital city of Ethiopia. These boys, now close to 200 of them, rarely had opportunity for adoption. A movement began called the Kolfe Mamas with women from the US pairing up with boys from Kolfe and loving and nurturing them long distance. Kurt and I became 'Mom and Dad' to three boys, keeping in touch through email and Facebook, and sending gifts to them with traveling adoptive families. Our hearts fell in love with these boys, claiming them as our own, praying for them daily, and mentoring them from across the ocean. This year, God began to stir our hearts for our two younger boys. Our oldest was now a man and struggling to make it on his own and soon we had lost touch with him. How we longed to see our younger two flourish in a family, with community and opportunity and future. Every child deserves a family afterall. I have listened to and admired nationally known radio host, Delilah Rene, for many years. She is a strong follower of Christ who holds tight to the belief that the true church is one who cares for the widow and orphan as James 1:27 teaches. Delilah has twelve children, nine of them adopted. Browsing through the internet one day recently, I came across a story on Delilah's website about her son, Sammy. I could barely breath through the entire story as she told of adopting her son from Ghana, a 14 year old boy stricken with sickle cell anemia, two years ago. The story ended with this: "On the first night that he was fully my son, Sammy told me through tears that he never dreamed God would answer his prayers. He said, "Momma, I always thought I would die alone in the orphanage. That I would never know what it was like to have someone love me"...and then after several racking sobs, he said, "and no one would even know that I had ever lived." I promised him through my own tears that he would not die alone. That he would not die in an orphanage. That he would be loved more than life by me and many others, and that people would know that he had lived. He died in our arms. He died surrounded by people he loved, and none of us will ever forget that he lived." I felt a squeezing ache within my chest as I read her story. My heart broke for Sammy and broke for Delilah. Her grief overwhelmed me. I was compelled to write to her from her contact email from her website. I honestly didn't think she would even read my email, but I knew I must say something. I was moved beyond description and I wanted to share my heart for Delilah in her grief. I reached out to her and also told her of my boys, living in a similar situation in Ethiopia and much to my surprise, Delilah responded to me that very evening. We shared back and forth, talking about adoption, about grief, about the Lord. My conversations with Delilah catapulted Kurt and I into moving forward to bring our sons home and we began the process. As Delilah and I shared, it became clear it would be very fitting to give our oldest son the middle name of Samuel, after her son, Sammy, who had graduated to heaven. Our son has told me more than once, "Nothing is impossible with God, Mom." His faith is strong, his prayers persistent, his need desperate. The name Samuel means "God Heard". God has heard the cries of a young boy in a in a distant land, longing for a family. God has heard the prayers of our family, longing to bring both of our boys home. Our older son will be 15 in September, our younger son is 9. Time is of the essence. After turning 16, adoption is very difficult to accomplish in Ethiopia. We need God to provide the necessary funds to bring our sons home. We need God to move paperwork and give us favor with judges and people of Ethiopia. Our sons need a family. Our family needs them. God is never late, but we need to get our son home before he draws closer to 16. Our younger son needs to enjoy his young life with a family that loves him. Would you be willing to help get our sons home? God always pairs the willing with the able. We are willing to raise these beauiful boys as a part of our family, we are willing to do what it takes to get them here. Are you able to help us? Are you able to give financially? Are you able to pray? Our first adoption was a long process. We are aiming to get them home in our oldest son's 15th year. They deserve this chance to be loved and give back to the world around them. On the right hand side of this blog is a donate button. Would you be willing to donate $15? $15 to get our sons home in our son's 15th year. Would you be willing to share this post with your Facebook friends, yourbfriends at church or work, your family members? This global network attached by the internet is a powerful force when people join together for one cause. Thank you for joining with us and giving $15 For The 15th Year Delilah and her son, Sammy