Our story is very much like many other families around. Chuck and I met in college, became engaged and got married. We welcomed our first child two years into the marriage and then another one 4 years into the marriage and another one 6 years into the marriage and then we stopped. We thought we were done. We decided three was plenty and went on with our lives. We filled our days with soccer practice, basketball practice, swimming lessons, trips to the mall, and slowly transitioned from a baby house to a big kid house.
That is when God stepped in and told us to take a different path, not the one everyone else was taking. He showed us the path to international adoption. He opened our eyes to orphans all around the world and finally rested our hearts in Africa. We knew there was no going back and quickly started the process to adopt a baby boy from Ethiopia.
Our process, was by todays' standards, very easy. It took about 19 months total and only one of us had to travel to Ethiopia to bring our son home. I chose to stay home and looked after the three older kids, while Chuck travelled with my dad to bring our baby home. Sounds pretty easy, right?
We did have our share of highs and lows. Our highs were amazing, like seeing our sons' referral pictures, both times. We actually have two Ethiopian sons. One who lives here with us and one that is buried in Ethiopian soil. Our first son passed away before we could bring him home and that was the deepest pain we have ever felt in our lives. We grieved the loss of our son like anyone would grieve the loss of a child, only we never even had the chance to hold him or kiss him. The harsh reality of international adoption doesn't really give you time to dry your tears before you are waiting for another referral.
The referral of our second son came 6 weeks after our first sons' passing, on Martin Luther King Day. He had been brought to the orphanage on Christmas Eve and his name meant historical. He was adorable to look at and had the cutest little scowl between his eyes. We would be lying if we told you we didn't hesitate a second before accepting the referral. We were so scared of being hurt again. We took the entire ten days allowed to accept the referral. In the end, we decided to not hide behind our fears but to follow our hearts and love this little baby boy who so desperately needed a family. Amazing to think that without Worku, we would have never found Tarikawi. Worku turned out to be one awesome little guardian angel and we love him to the moon and back.
So... now we have two boys and two girls. Nice and even. Nice and symmetrical. Not too crowded in the house. Not too crowded in the car. Everyone has their own room and I still have a spare room for storing junk in. We don't have time, money, energy, or space for another child.
But then God came knocking again. He asked me why it was okay for me to have a room to store junk in? Such a simple question, but it got me thinking. It got me thinking out loud to Chuck. It got me thinking everyday, all day. I could think of nothing else. Extra room=Junk room? Something doesn't seem right.
Seems like our story isn't over.....
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