November is National Adoption Month

OK. It's my turn to get on the soapbox.

I don't remember when I first wanted to adopt. It is something that I have wanted since I was a little girl. It has always been in the back of my mind. When I was in high school I saw one of those nighttime news expose' shows about orphanages in Romania (Primetime or 20/20 or one of those). That was when I started thinking about international adoption. I don't remember if Tim and I talked about it before or after we married, but we both had a heart for orphan care, and after his trip to China in 97, he was in love with China.

Fast forward to November 2005. Will was 3 months old. I had just turned 29, and Tim was quickly approaching the same age. We knew we were going to be eligible for Chinese adoption soon, so we started praying about whether or not God wanted us to go down that road. Immediately God answered that prayer. Adoption was everywhere I turned - Newspaper ads, magazine stories, a TV episode that had an adoption plot line, and a billboard. My favorite "sign" from God was when we were getting off the interstate, and there was a handwritten, cardboard sign that said "Adoption" with an arrow below it. It was pointing in the direction that we were turning. Leave it God to literally give me a sign when I needed him to be clear.

Anyway, I know people adopt for many reasons, and I don't want to hash those out. What I want to say is that if you are a Christian, you are called to care for orphans (James 1:27). Psalm 68 says that God is the father to the fatherless, and that He sets the lonely in families. God cares about these children.

Now, this doesn't mean everyone is called to adopt. Some of you are called to sponsor orphans financially. Some of you might be called to go on a mission trip to an orphanage. Maybe you are called to be a Big Brother or a Big Sister to a child right here at home. Maybe you are called to start an adoption ministry in your church to encourage and financially support others who want to adopt.

But some of us are called to adopt and to foster. According to Steven Curtis Chapman, "If only 7% of the world's 2 billion Christians would care for a single orphan, we could end the orphan crisis." That statistic floors me. There are so many beautiful children out there in need of parents, and you might be the parents who need them right back. Just today, I have heard about 2 different lists of waiting children. A Helping Hand Adoption Agency has four beautiful Chinese boys on their waiting child list. And here is a link to information from another agency about four healthy teens who long for homes. If they are not adopted in the next few months they will be too old for adoption. I am more familiar with China's special needs program, but I encourage you to look into your state's foster program and/or other international adoption programs too. There are so many options.

If you are interested in orphan care, I encourage you to pray about what you should do. Check out http://www.shoahannahshope.org/ for more information about financially supporting orphans and families, adoption ministries, financial assistance, and just getting started with adoption. They blessed our family with an adoption grant, and we are so thankful for the work that they are doing around the world. Think about it. More importantly, if you are a Christian, pray about what you are supposed to be doing to care for orphans.