Chris and I have been married since October, 1998. We have a 13 year old daughter and an 11 year old son. Chris is adopted and has always wanted to adopt, to give back in the same way he was blessed through adoption. However, life sets in and years roll by.
Even though we had always discussed adoption, we never took action. Then one Easter, service at Southeast Christian in Louisville, we were all given white cards with 4 windows in which to write certain things. One of those things was one dream you have. Chris and I both wrote “Adopt a child”. Yet, still no action.
Then at church Kyle Idleman told a story about being at an orphanage in Haiti and being called to action. “Do something” he said. I think we were mostly hesitant because of the cost. We didn’t see how we could afford the expense of adoption. I hated the idea of asking others for financial support. Then Kyle preached a message about how some people “Go” and others “Send”. I realized that not everyone feels called to adopt, yet they may have a heart for orphans and want to give so that a child could be brought into a family.
Chris and I were finally called to action because we realized our lack of action was…in one word…disobedient. We were still scared of the cost, and because we wanted older children (not babies…been there, done that, don’t wanna go back!) we decided that we would foster to adopt with the state. After 16 weeks of training, we purchased a larger home to make room for the children God would send, then… nothing. We never received a call for a placement. In January 2013, Chris said with confidence and authority, “We are going to adopt internationally. God will provide the funds we need.” From that moment on, I was all in.
We completed our home study, prayed, chose a country, prayed, chose an agency, prayed, paid more money than I ever have at once for anything, prayed, and waited. Our country of choice was Ethiopia. We have several friends who have adopted from Ethiopia and all of the children are so loving and affectionate and have adjusted well. We also liked the idea of our child having friends from his own country of origin and culture. In the meantime, Ethiopia has gone through some changes which have slowed the adoption process way down. We were originally told we would be matched with a child in about 6 months. Then in the fall of 2014 we were being encouraged to switch countries because the wait would be years.
However, we stayed to course and we received a surprise call on New Year’s Eve that we have a son! He is 8 years old and his name is Natnael, which means “Gift from God.” He shares a birthday with our son, Mason. There are 365 days that could have been Nat’s birthday, and it is the same day as his brother! We expect to travel to Ethiopia to adopt Natnael in June and should have him home with us in September. God is so good! We ask for prayers that everything moves swiftly and there are no issues with the process or paperwork. Thank you all so much!
All profit from the sales of this scarf style goes directly to help fund the Renner's adoption process. We hope you love your scarves & share how you style them by tagging us on Instagram @everydaypitpat
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