--

"Rescue the perishing; don't hesitate to step in and help. If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business," [i.e. "that's not for me"] will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know— Someone not impressed with weak excuses." -Proverbs 24:12 (The Message)

"Once our eyes are opened we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

maybe...

we had friends over for dinner this past weekend.
the topic of "adoption" came up.
when pat was asked if we might adopt, he said, "maybe" without hesitation.
huge progress! :-)
and my heart literally SANG.

fields of the fatherless

pat and i both just finished reading fields of the fatherless by tom davis. i read it first. then asked him to read it. he did. that week. we've talked about it some. i, of course, think it means we need to adopt.

he, wisely, says it reminds him that we need to "keep looking" - keep our eyes open - to what God asks of us - whether it be adoption...or paying for the woman's groceries in the grocery store line.

i'm so thankful for my husband.

questions

i don't TRY to talk about adoption. because i'm not even sure it's God's will for us.

but somehow it seems to come up. a lot. in lots on conversations.

a friend from out of town visited this week and had dinner with us. a GUY, no less.

he asked if we were done having kids.

i gave my answer, "i'm NOT going to be pregnant again." this makes most people believe we're done. our family is complete. and it might be. so that's fine for them to believe that. but it leaves it open for adoption too. it's just that most people don't even think of that as an option...after 4 biological kids.

anyways, about 30 minutes later, he asks, "so, are you thinking about adoption?"

am i that obvious? for a GUY to pick up on that?

then he asked some good questions. that i think i probably need to get good at answering if we really start talking about/moving towards adoption...

"so, why do you want to adopt?" "so, it's an 'outreach' thing in addition to a desire to have more kids, huh?" "what country do you want to adopt from?"

i find that i LOVE talking about it - it really gets me going...

Rebekah

R: "mom, will we have to take a plane to get to Africa?"

Me: "ummm....why are we going to Africa?" (remember, we've NEVER talked about adopting with the kids...yet.

R: "For when we adopt 2 kids from there."

Me: "oh. well, yes, we would need to take a plane to get to Africa."

--

Psalm 41:1-3
Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor.
Blessed are those who consider the state of the poor. The Lord rescues them in times of trouble. The Lord protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity and rescues them from their enemies. The Lord nurses them when they are sick and eases their pain and discomfort.

it's back

i'm thinking about it every day again. sawyer is 3 weeks old. i admit, for about 4 weeks (the last TORTUROUS week of pregnancy and the first 3 weeks of his life) i haven't thought much about adoption.

but it's back.

had a conversation with becca, mary and ali yesterday about it. i forget who i've told my "dream" to - but i think it's slightly obvious just where my heart is...that i have such an interest in adoption/orphans/africa.

it got my heart racing again...

i haven't had too many conversations with people about it. when i do, it's pretty short and i don't REALLY share how strongly i feel about it. i guess i'm scared that it will never really happen. that maybe it's not what God wants and then i'd look "stupid" for misreading Him. but the question i've gotten consistently is "Why do you want to?"

i don't have a great argument.

all i can say is, "it feels right" - there's a huge need, i have the desire to meet it, and i trust that God will give us the resources (financial, emotional, etc) to do it. that's it. no bullet points. just "it feels right."