I guess it all began (don’t laugh!) with my imaginary childhood friend, Ivan, who I “adopted” from Russia. Of course, I didn’t understand all of the complexities and paradoxes of adoption at that age, but what I did understand was every child’s basic right to grow and thrive in a loving family environment. At that very young age God planted within me a heart for children, and especially orphans. As I grew, he began to build on that early foundation, and I began to pay closer attention to the world and the people around me. When I was in 9th grade, I met a girl named A~. A~’s father was not around, and her mother had a serious drug problem. As the oldest child at home, the responsibility of parenting the younger siblings fell to A~. It broke her heart when they were eventually taken from their home and split up. A~ spent the rest of her childhood in the foster care system. I think it was during those many times talking and crying with my friend, seeing her anger and pain, and watching her hope for a family slowly fade along with her childhood, that I began to feel certain that adoption was part of God’s plan for me.
At the same time, across the country in Arkansas, God was placing the same dream in Stephen’s heart. When we finally met in college and started dating, we discussed our future plans for a family and both agreed that adoption would play a part. At the time we assumed that we would probably also have biological children, but after three years of marriage, we found out that was not to be. It is amazing how God began to prepare us so far in advance so that when this news came it would not bring disappointment, but confirmation of the direction God was leading us- adoption. We began seriously looking into adoption in early 2006, but since we were both young and just out of college, it made sense to save a little more and research our options. By January of 2007, we both agreed we were ready to move forward, and so here we are! We attended a Children’s Hope International info meeting in March and mailed off our application that very same week. After a LOT of paper work, homestudy meetings, background checks, and immigration approval we are happy to say that as of July 12 (Happy Birthday Stephen!), we are now officially on the waiting list for a referral of an infant boy or girl from Vietnam. If all goes well, we hope to have a referral by next summer and travel soon after to bring home our son or daughter!