About four years ago, I was listening to (and grading) persuasive speeches. Two of the six speeches that day were about the importance of adoption. I remember thinking, “I hope the students are listening to this. If 1/3 of the speeches are about the same topic, someone in here is going to adopt.” I did my best to ignore the tug in my heart that said, “That someone might be you.”
Only a few months later, I was in the audience of a Hearts at Home conference listening to stories of adoption from Jill Savage and Lysa TerKeurst. This time, I shared with Ryan the need to talk with him about something. I was sure he was thinking, “What did she learn about this time, and what ‘new parenting concept’ does she want us to implement?”
After we put Kaden (then age 4) and Karson (then age 1) to bed, we sat down on the couch. I shared with Ryan my desire to look into adoption. I couldn’t put my finger on it; I couldn’t put the need into words, but I knew it was there. I felt the way I had when I broached the subjects of wanting to have children prior to Kaden and Karson’s births. I was nervous regarding how Ryan would respond to this. With two children, we were doing well working our man-to-man defense. Adding more children would mean moving to a zone. Ryan’s response was, “Well, I think you should research it, and let me know what you find out.”
That was the open door I was hoping for. Ryan doesn’t just jump into anything without thought and preparation (he brings good balance to me).
I found myself instantly drawn to researching African countries. The summer after my senior year I traveled to Spain with my high school’s Spanish Club. We rode a hovercraft from the tip of southern Spain to Tangiers, Morocco – Africa for a day trip. We were in a high tourist area, full of restaurants and souvenirs, but I vividly remember the tiny makeshift homes, some metal, some mud. And I remember the brown eyes staring up at me with hands outstretched, hoping for any coins that we were willing to share. It affected my heart, and I never forgot those eyes.
We settled upon Ethiopia, a country two-times the size of Texas with 4.6 million orphans. We originally requested a child younger than Karson, then thought perhaps two children younger than Karson. In the end, we worked with a local agency who did not complete our homestudy and no longer exists. We lost everything, all our processing, paperwork, and money. Ryan began to question if we were truly supposed to be on the path of adoption.
We stepped back and prayed about it…for over a year.
In April of 2009, I had the opportunity to travel with Visiting Orphans to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. While working in the orphanages, God began to open the doors that had been closed for over a year. Ryan and I soon found ourselves corresponding via email regarding sisters I met at Kid’s Care Orphanage. Their names are Fikirte (fa KEER ta, which means love) and Konjit (kone JEET, which means beautiful). Ryan and I were half a world apart, but God had placed us on the same page. We were ready to proceed with our adoption, not for babies but for sisters ages 7 and 10.
Ryan and I began the process from the beginning upon my return to the states. Fikirte and Konjit became a part of our family and joined us in the states in August of 2010.
