Didn't you already adopt once?

This is the short version of how we got here... again...

They say that God never does a miracle the same way twice.  I’m beginning to think they are wrong.  Whoever “they” are.

It’s not that He can’t… or has to.  I just think He can use any circumstances He wants to. 

Last time we adopted, we had tried for years to get pregnant only to loose the baby at 14 weeks.  Stubborn and determined, I told God He had a year to get me pregnant again or I’d be heading to Uganda to adopt a baby boy.  Somehow, a year later (to the date), we were starting our adoption process on Samantha, an orphan we offered to host for a week.  She was, well… twelve years old… a Russian… and a girl.  Not quite the same thing.

This time, we were not trying to get pregnant.  We had simply decided that we would host an Ethiopian orphan when they came to perform at our church.  Well, that little lady didn’t waste much time stealing my heart. 

On her first night at our house, she turned to me at bedtime and asked, “Auntie Shannon, will you be my mommy?”

Five little words sang out with a giggle and a look of hope in her eyes.  I laughed with her and sent her to bed.  The first stitch between her heart and mine was sewn that night.

“I will not leave you as orphans.  I will come to you.” 

John 14:18

Two days later, those three big kids of mine, were staring down their dad, waiting patiently for him to say we could adopt our two favorite Ethiopian orphans, the teenage girl we hosted and her little brother.  

Waiting for Dad to say he was on board. 

We were all on board and just waiting to make it official when “Oops!” happened!  We were not trying this time around, but we were incredibly excited and slightly unsure of what we would do with a baby in a house of big kids.  All we came up with was that it had to be a boy, he would be named after my dad, and he would have to play soccer.  We were deciding on room arrangements when we found out it was an ectopic pregnancy.  We lost our baby at 10 weeks.

With tears still wet in their eyes, the kids starting begging us to pick right back up with the adoption.  We needed to heal our hearts and our minds, but the answer was staring back at us every day.  God’s voice was clear. 

Then came her last request.  She wanted to have lunch with me one more time before they would leave to go back home.

After two months and a few dates, everything had changed.  We had just a couple minutes alone together before she needed to go back to her campus.  Her silly teasing question turned into a plea.  Holding on to me with both hands, she cried, “Auntie Shannon, I need you to be my mom!”  The tears were pouring down her cheeks and she was staring straight into my eyes.  My eyes filled quickly and I took her cheeks into my hands and reminded her that God has plans for her life, and that they will be good.

She tried another direction, “Can I come to your house?”
I questioned her, “To stay one more night?”

She rubbed her tears away and said, “No.  To stay all the nights.”

That was the last time we talked. 

Saying goodbye the first time.  She refused to let go. 

As we started our adoption process, they told us that they could not just ask the two of them if they wanted to be adopted by us.  If something fell through on our end, that would leave two kids broken hearted.  I would just have to wait and see if she would ask for us by name.  I knew her brother wouldn’t because he isn’t as outspoken as she is, so we put all our hope and faith in the voice of a 14 year old girl.  Everyone I love was praying that she would be bold, that she would use that voice of hers, and that she would make her wishes known to the right person.

A couple weeks later, during my morning devotion time, I was letting God know how my heart was aching for them.  I asked Him for a miracle and ended my journalling with the words, “Praying for them to be referred to us.”

God understands my inability to practice patience.  It was a couple hours later that I was told that she had been asking for me every day since they got back to Ethiopia! 

If I was sure we wanted to move forward with the adoption, they were ours! 

Our referral… was official.  

Admitting that I liked the idea of having 5 "almost" teenagers… was official. 

Clenching my jaw at the length of a calendar… was official.

I’m convinced that if God wants to use similar circumstances to bend our hearts towards His, He will.  If we choose to trust Him, He will show us again and again how much He loves His children.  

Part of my first love letter from my Ethiopian daughter. 

Prayer Requests:
- For our Ethiopian kids to know Christ, and trust God's plan.
- We have already been submitted to court, but we need a very special paper to be able to go.
- Prayers for our paperwork to be where it needs to be on time.
- Financial support and grants to be awarded to our family. 
- For the Ethiopian government to see the value of raising children in stable families verses the effects of growing up in an institution.