The American Dream. Our Call To Adopt. Part 1.

I've been challenged by a friend for awhile to write our adoption story. I laughed it off and frankly thought there was no way. While I'm open about who I am and it doesn't take long to figure out where I stand on things I have trust issues. I don't trust easily and sharing our story would mean taking off another layer of vulnerability because while I don't really care what people think of me I'm opening myself up to peoples opinions of my precious family. The ones I love deeply, fight for with intensity, and cherish dearly. However, the Lord has been prodding my heart to get ready to write. We've only shared our entire story with a few people because it is so personal to us. However the Lord asked me if I'd share if He asked me to. Of course I would. That time is here.

So here it is. Imperfect. Not always eloquent. Raw.

In 2007 when the Lord called us to adopt Silas I had no idea what kind of life changing process that would be. I'd always wanted to adopt since I was a very young girl, it was part of my DNA. David knew that before we got married he was open to it but he wasn't there yet. When the Lord got a hold of his heart and we began the process neither of us knew what was in store.

Lets go back a bit. God moved us from Oregon to Arizona in the summer of 2004. We built our then "dream home" in a family friendly city, had the perfect little family, three kids, two nice cars, a perfectly furnished house, a swimming pool, it was THE American Dream. At least we were headed in that general direction.

I was in a car accident with all of the kids in the summer of 2005. It was a very unpleasant experience, we ended up having to get a lawyer which is so not my speed. We lived day by day waiting for the call to let us know just how much we'd owe for medical bills, car rentals, car repairs, etc.

The housing market sky rocketed, our house was now worth twice what we paid and it seemed silly not to "upgrade" since completed houses were going so much higher then houses to build, you know because we live in a NOW society. So we did what any normal person would do. We put our house up for sale and began to build our REAL Dream home. A 3900 sq ft "modest" home on a 1/3 acre in a great neighborhood. Now we'd have room for guests to be extra comfortable, no more two car garage, now we'd have a 3.5 car garage. Life was perfect. In our own eyes. (let me just say, there is NOTHING wrong with big houses, fast cars, and great neighborhoods. Don't get me wrong there is NOTHING wrong with this. BUT for us it was a problem, or should I say it became a problem as the Lord opened our eyes to His plan for us.)

During the time we were building our "REAL dream home" the Lord called us to adopt. Not only did He call us to adopt He asked if we'd be willing to give up everything to follow His call. Sure! Couldn't be that hard, yeah we could cut our grocery bill, I committed to giving up Starbucks, I could work a little more, yeah I'll sacrifice. But what about our dream house? Would we give that up? Would we pull our house off the market, back out of the DREAM house and live contented lives in our "almost dream house"? Through much prayer, fasting, and laying bare before the Lord David and I both knew what the Lord was calling us to do. We committed to adopting, took the house off the market, backed out of the new house, and settled in for a life changing experience.