Friday evening November 30, 2007 Joshua and I sat down to a wonderful dinner and began a life-altering discussion about adoption. Now this was certainly not the first conversation on this topic, as prior to getting married we discussed the idea, and have since brought up the idea numerous times. But, none the less, this was a defining conversation. As many who frequent our blog ( www.taylorfamily.wordpress.com ) are aware, we have been unable to conceive a child in the past 3.5 years of trying. God has faithfully brought us through this time and continues a purifying work in our hearts as we daily look to Him for His sovereign will to unfold in our lives.
After much prayer and heart-searching we have decided to adopt. At this time we aren’t pursuing fertility treatments, but not because of any religious beliefs as much as we just feel that its not what we’re supposed to go ahead with at this time. We still hope and pray that God will grant us biological children, knowing fully that every child is a gift from Him.
We have spent the last few months researching adoption agencies, considering international vs domestic adoption, talking to people about adoption, and reading adoption blogs and books. As you can tell from our header, we have chosen to adopt from Ethiopia.
Why Ethiopia. . .? Well, why not? There are many reasons why we chose Ethiopia. To name a few:
1. We meet the country requirements. Each country sets its own requirements for adopting couples. For example, net worth, length of marriage, and how old you are.
2. Young children and babies are available. Some countries have a year long waiting period before children can be adopted, others take 12-24 months to complete an adoption after the referal or your child.
3. The time it takes to process an adoption is shorter than most countries allowing us to bring home a very young infant. Once we are accepted by our agency into the Ethiopia program it takes 10-14 months to bring your child home. Also, our stay in Ethiopia is only 7-10 days. Many countries have 2-6 week stays or require 2 trips to the country.
4. The children are well cared for in Ethiopian orphanages and all are given medical exams.
5. There are an estimated 4-5 million orphans in Ethiopia in need of families. Most often Ethiopian children become orphans because their parents have died from AIDS or they cannot afford to care for them. These children are in desperate need of families and a chance at life!
We have not applied to an agency yet to begin the process, but have decided on which agency we’re using. We will post more info once we begin our application to adopt. (Hopefully in the next month!) Until then please keep us in your prayers!
Here is the verse that we’ve been meditating on as we’ve begun this jouney, it speaks of placing all our hope in the Lord and his faithfulness. God know’s I’m so prone to try to figure things out myself and take things into my own hands. My prayer is to fully rely and wait on Him.
Lamentations 3:21-24 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
Adopted 