“I want you to pray to God and ask Him to let you be my mommy.”  The child clinging to me in the hot African sun looked up at me with the brownest set of puppy dog eyes you could imagine.

“I am sure God has good plans for you and He loves you very much.” I responded as I choked back tears at the irony of the moment. We had traveled around the world to welcome a child into our family who at the moment was so scared of us she played on the other side of the playground while this one begged me to adopt him.

But he persisted. “NO!”

He turned my face to look at those big brown eyes. “Ask HIM.” 

I was taken aback by his determination.

“I will.” I said.

And I did. When our family of four went back to the house we had rented, crawled under the mosquito net and closed our eyes, I asked him, just to make sure He got it right. (Do you ever do that too?) Sometimes it’s good to just confirm He knows what He’s doing, especially when you’re doing something huge like adopting a kid!

Alas, God showed within the next few days that our little girl, Sharon was definitely the match he made in heaven (and through our adoption agency)  to be the third child in our family, and that he would take care of his child who was begging me to be his mommy.

A few weeks later, Sharon and our family hugged and waved goodbye to the brown eyed boy as he held on to the hand of one of the aunties and hid his face. We were engulfed with the task before us, to give just one orphan a family and a home, and the next few months in Uganda, I would have to walk by needy child after needy child while holding on to the hand of just the one that we could help.

And believe me, just the one was a huge task for the moment. Adopting a kid is, like I said, kind of a big deal and the next few years were an awesome time but also an adjustment period in our family. We would talk about her friends at the orphanage but as days, months, and years (3 now) passed, we talked about them less and less, until we mostly just reminded her and our other two children about the fact that the kids at the orphanage were still eating rice and beans for dinner when they turned their noses up at my cooking.

In America, we get busy. Raising three kids, managing a home, homeschooling, (aye) pretty much takes up my time. But every once in a while, we get the opportunity to help the ones we had to leave behind.

This fall, we are teaming up with our adoption agency, Carolina Adoption Services, to help fundraise so they can keep connecting kids like Sharon with families like us. 

Kids like the big brown eyed one we had to leave behind with families. 

I was there.

I held him.

There are so, so many like him, in America and all over the world.

Waiting.

Wondering.

“Will I ever have a family?”

I know, you are like, seriously, Amy? My family doesn’t feel led to adopt, don’t guilt trip us.

And I hear you. Believe me, I am not encouraging everyone to adopt.

I am encouraging everyone to consider how they could help and to hear some of the beautiful ways God sets the lonely in families through adoption. (Psalm 68:6) He uses adoption agencies like Carolina Adoption Services to make this a reality.

If you live locally, (Greensboro, NC) we would love for you to come support this endeavor on one special night. Details are in the link below!

Click to access Get-Tickets-for-the-Blue-Jean-and-Pearls-Gala-October-28-2017.pdf