From Guatemala to the Jersey shore: How do you answer the question..

Saturday, March 29, 2008

How do you answer the question..

Why did you decide to adopt? If I had a dollar for everytime I was asked "why did you decide to adopt" I would be rich. Please tell me how you answer the question.

5 comments:

Stephanie said...: People thought we were *NUTS* when my husband and I decided to have my tubes tied during our daughter's delivery. But, we wanted to be certain we could live within our means and still be able to afford to adopt a child (or two) later on. It has always been pressing on our hearts even before we were married. And now that our daughter is 2 and I am nearing 25, I can't wait to get started in the
process!

Thank you for sharing on your blog. Know you are a blessing!; March 29, 2008 at 6:04 PM
Kimmie said...: Well Greta Jo- usually my answer leaves them wondering if I am a nut...honestly a social worker thought I was crazy....here's what I say;

It is God's call on our life.

(sometimes if the door opens, I share this:) When I was 13 years old, the Lord asked me to adopt children. I vowed with God right then, to adopt as many as He'd send.
Two years later I met my husband and on our 2nd date I told him about my 'conversation/vow' with God. I made it clear that if adoption wasn't in 'his' future, then I wasn't the girl for him. (YES, I was all of 15 years old-he was in college.) He thought I was a little crazy, (and he wasn't thinking about marrying me), but he continued to date me for 5 years, then we got married.

The social worker (who prepared our homestudy for our foster care license)...said to me,"That is interesting, only old people talk to God, you are too young." To which I replied that Mary was quite young herself. (I seriously think that he thought I was bonkers....which was fine, because it isn't about me, but about Him.)

We now have 5 adopted children and more are on their way...this time from Ethiopia, God is so good and so wants to speak to each of us.

Kimmie
mama to 6
one homemade and 5 adopted; March 29, 2008 at 8:16 PM
Reba said...: I never know how to answer it. Lots of times, I just say, "It was a God thing". I cannot say we thought about it our whole lives. We had always talked about possibly fostering and maybe even once or twice mentioned adoption, but it never really crossed my mind until one summer this "itch" came through a variety of means. I couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't sleep. Within a couple of weeks, we had accepted our first referral (and I was still learning what a dossier was :). I don't know why. I cannot say I was even trying to be obedient to God. I felt like it was what He wanted us to do, but even more, I just felt like it was something we should do and we did...twice. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Reba; March 29, 2008 at 10:48 PM
Heidi said...: I just say that we knew when we got married we wouldn't be able to have bio kids and ours hearts led us to Guatemala and I can tell them I am grateful for our infertility because I wouldn't trade our daughter (and soon-to-be son) for anything.; March 29, 2008 at 11:34 PM
Bobbi said...: Those who are genuinely interested, I love to talk to about this, but those who are just being nosy----ooh that gets me every time.

I usually tell them that adopting is something Joe and I always knew we wanted to do. We decided to do it now when our children are still young--and so are we. I also tell them how important it has always been to me to give a child a home with love that they would not have had otherwise.

NOW, for those who are dumb enough to ask why we didn't just have more kids of OUR OWN I share some of the graphic nature of two dangerous childbirths. Oh, how they wish they didn't ask.

I too would be rich........I could adopt at least one more with those nickels.; March 30, 2008 at 9:54 PM