Our Adoption Journey Begins

Well, actually, it began a long time ago ... we just didn't realize it until recently. God has blessed us already with a beautiful daughter, Mallory, but we have always felt as if He wasn't finished adding to our family. Now we find ourselves having applied to adopt twins from Ethiopia, leaving many to wonder how we got here!

Shelley and I realize now that we have always had "The Spirit of Adoption." First of all, we believe that, as Christians, we were all once orphans who have been adopted into God's family. Secondly, we have had the God-given privilege of having several close friends and relatives who have been blessed by the gift of adoption. Most notably, God allowed our paths to cross with Drew and Lori Jamieson almost four years ago. It was my first day of classes at Southern Seminary in Louisville, and I was running late (as always.) Actually, I thought the seminar started at 10 AM when in reality it was 9. However, God was sovereign even over my lateness.

As I sneaked onto the back row of a chapel filled with about 2000 people, I sat beside this nice guy from Florence, Alabama. Since I grew up about 45 minutes from there, we struck up a casual friendship. One of the first things that he shared with me was how he and his wife Lori and daughter Kalie were in the process of adopting a little girl from Taiwan. For some reason, God really laid this family on our hearts and gave us the desire to be a part of bringing this little one home. It was the best investment our family has ever made. Not only have we been blessed to be a part of little Karlee's life, the Jamiesons have become the best friends we have ever had and are truly like family to us. Watching them love Kalie, Karlee, and now little Kate, from China, has definitely been an inspiration to our family. Thank you, guys!!!!

The third thing God has used to get us to this point has taken place since we have moved back to Tennessee. In October, I had the opportunity to attend the Catalyst Conference for young leaders in Atlanta. In the months since that conference, God has literally rocked our world. For starters, it really opened my eyes to the bigger picture and the bigger purpose of the church – especially with regard to human suffering and social justice issues. Francis Chan challenged us to re-evaluate our purpose in ministry and purpose on this planet, and Rick Warren called us to “reach into the sore and lift up the Cross.” God really got my attention and convicted me that I had really been missing what it was all about.

We had been thinking about selling our house so that we could “move up” into a nicer neighborhood, where many of our church members live. But out of nowhere, during the conference, God spoke to me and told me that I needed to resist the temptation to give in to the pressure to be like everyone else – specifically, “Stay where you are.” We didn’t really know why He would tell us this, but we were OK with it.

Over the next month or so, constantly chewing and digesting with Shelley all that I had heard at the conference, God really placed what I call a holy discontent in our spirits. Here we are at this wealthy, suburban church with a whole zip code full of elaborate buildings -- and there are people literally living in refuse dumps in other parts of the world. I was really having an issue justifying being where I was and I was becoming increasingly cynical. But then God assured me again, “Stay where you are,” this time concerning my ministry position. Knowing this, I began to ask, “If you want me to stay here, then why are you putting this burden on my heart?” I began seeking out what the Bible says about human suffering and social justice. I was overwhelmed when I realized that, from Genesis to Revelation, that is what the whole Book is about!! How have I missed this for 30 years?

The question then became, “Okay, so now what? You want us to stay in our house and be different. You want me to stay in my job. But you have given us an intense burden for hurting people. What do you want us to do?” Over Thanksgiving it became clear. God wants to use us to show our church and community what it means to take risks and live missional lives. More specifically, he doesn’t just want us to talk about helping the orphan and widow, the poor and oppressed, He wants us to actually do it. Which is why it wasn’t a surprise when Shelley and I both came (separately) to the conclusion that God was calling us to adopt an orphan into our family. Staying put in our house and not taking on the financial burden of a mortgage we can’t afford is going to help us do this.

As we began to look into adopting, we were drawn to ask our adoption counselor where the greatest need was. In other words, where are the kids in the world that no one else wants to adopt, because that’s where we want to go. Without blinking, she told us “Ethiopia.” As we prayed about this and what it would look like to bring an African child into a very Caucasian family, God began giving us more and more of a passion for African children, especially those who have been orphaned by AIDS or extreme poverty.

Last week, we officially submitted our paperwork to begin the process of adopting two children from Ethiopia. We are so excited we can hardly stand it! We are so thankful for those of you who have been so supportive so far! Please pray for us as we try to be obedient to His call and that He would give us the faith, courage, and provision we need to bring the rest of our family home.