An Adoption Story...... Shortened Version -- Announcement # 2

A long time ago, I read a book.... "The Family Nobody Wanted" written in the 1950's. It is about a Minister and his wife that couldn't have biological children and they adopted child after child of different nationalities until they had 12 children. It is an awesome book, I just reread it this week. See, it was so good and so important to me that I kept it all these years. I was a teenager when I read it the first time. I knew then that I was supposed to adopt two little girls, that God wanted me to do that. Why girls? I don't know. But that is what I was supposed to do. Maybe it is because in most countries girls are treated differently and worse than boys. They are mistreated a lot. When we got married, Mark didn't want to adopt. For 24 1/2 years he wouldn't even consider it. He had his reasons. And over the years I would mention it every now and then. But no. Some friends, Trevor and Jackie, adopted some children, and I think on about their 4th adoption, there was an article in the newspaper about it. Mark told his administrative assistants, "I am going to be in trouble when Debbie sees this"... I think then God was talking to him and he wasn't listening!! Fast forward a few years from that article...


In March, 2005, our pastor was preaching a series of sermons on the "Fruits of the Spirit". The one on "Faithfulness" got Mark's attention. That night we had a talk and he told me that he was going to pray about adopting and he wanted me to pray to see if God still wanted me to adopt. So for about 6 weeks we went on that way. On the first weekend of May, we had a guest speaker at church and he spoke on "A Step of Faith" on Tuesday after that, Mark called me from work and said he thought we should go ahead and start the process. We did start the process that week!! We decided to adopt two girls, and they would be from Taiwan. We thought that it would be good because we have friends that are missionaries there and we could take them on mission trips to see their homeland. Well, God had other plans.


Heidy "found us" on Precious.org, she was born on Mark's moms birthday, she had a German name, Mark is full blooded German, she had a hip condition that was similar to one Mark had as a child and was in traction for a full year at home. The big plus, is that she was already with the agency that we had decided on. So we called about her and found out she was available, we asked for more information and medicals to take to an orthopedic doctor. We got it the next day and talked to the doctor and prayed about it and over the weekend and Mark and I decided that we wanted her and told our agency on, Monday October the 24, 2005. The catch was, she wasn't from Taiwan... Our little girl was born in Guatemala!!!


Over the next month I got our dossier together and got it to Guatemala and in a few months she came home. Her "Forever Family Day" is March 23, 2006. Her adoption took only 5 months from us accepting her referral until her "forever family" day. It was one of the most exciting, rewarding things we have ever done.


Well, leaving out a bunch of the story, but our agency started working on an Ethiopian program. That is where we felt called to go next, so much for Taiwan!! But it took so long for that program to get up and running that the ole devil, the liar himself, put doubts in Mark's head. So for a long time, I didn't know what we were going to do, even though I still felt we were supposed to adopt again.


The 2nd weekend of February Mark had asked God for a sign. One night, being the famous channel flipper that he is, was flipping channels and got to some channels he never watches and there was a show on a Science channel, about a tribe of people in Ethiopia and how the boys got to be men by running across the back of bulls naked and if they fell, they would have to try again to become a man, and the girls were beaten and showed scars on their backs and everything. He thought to himself, it is a fluke... Well, he decided to go away and think, like he does at times and he went away over night to think and pray. It was the 8th of Feb. When he got there it was a beautiful day and was going for a walk and called me and said pray for me, so I did and told him that whatever he decided for our family I was fine with. If he didn't want to adopt then I would be fine and if he did I would be fine. :-) When he got back to the hotel, he said, I prayed and asked God to show me what we were supposed to do, he said he told God, I have heard of this done and I'm going to open my Bible and I need the answer to be on that page. Well, his Bible opened to Jeremiah 13. Have you ever read Jeremiah 13? He said he started reading at verse 20 and got to 23 and it read "Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard it's spots?" He said, it was like OK, God I get it! He is at peace with it now...... And excited!!


So we are adopting again, this time from Ethiopia. A girl, close to Heidy's age.

Not Taiwan again. Taiwan wasn't the place at all, but it was the place to get Mark to start thinking about it.

We aren't sure when all of this will take place and that is ok, we are at peace knowing that it is supposed to be and it will!!

God has had a plan all along and He is making it come to life..... Please pray for us along this journey!!