Have you ever had one of those moments when a verse of scripture actually speaks to you? I’m not talking about it speaking to your intellect, but to your heart, to your inner most being. It is one of those occasions when God himself declares his desires to the soul of mankind. Well just this morning Matthew 6:25 injected an adrenaline into my spirit. I feel it was undeniably the Lord reaffirming a recent decision Ashley and I made. This is the question that was impressed upon me in this verse…Is life not more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? I felt God say to me, Shane, the life of another person far outweighs all the pleasures you could ever buy or own. Trade the burden of attaining your wants for the joy of giving a life to another soul.
As several of you have heard, Ashley is with child. However, it is not my child. Nor is it hers. It is the child of a mother and father who did not want it. It is a child whose parents are no longer alive due to war, disease, AIDS, or malnutrition. It is a child whose parents could no longer provide for her and chose to abandon her in the ally near an orphanage. Although she is not growing within Ashley’s womb, she is being wonderfully and fearfully made in the heart of our family. Aware of this child’s desperate need of a loving mother and father and strongly feeling called by God, we proceeded several weeks ago and began the journey of adopting internationally.
Over the past several weeks, I have naturally questioned myself as to whether or not this is truly God’s desire for our family. I have three happy, healthy children. Why would I want another one? There will be diapers to buy, diapers to change, and diapers to expose of. There will be another person to feed, another person to take to school, and another person to put to bed. I’ll have to wait longer to purchase that vehicle we’ve wanted for several years. I’ll have to eat more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead of the honey chipotle ribs at Chili’s. So do I need another one? Not really. But does that hopeless child need an amazing, caring mommy? Yes! Does she need a cool daddy like me? Totally! Could she benefit by being raised in a Christian home with three happy, healthy siblings? Absolutely!
Immediately after reading this article, I’d like to ask everyone to stop and simply pray. First pray for this child. Pray for her health, her safety, and her endurance. Pray for her care takers and for the orphanage where she lives. Secondly, pray for our family. Pray that Ashley and I have the wisdom, patience, and stamina needed to strongly complete this lengthy process. Pray that God provides all the grace and resources we’ll need to bring our little girl (or boy) home. Thank you in advance for approaching our Heavenly Father on our behalf.
Living in expectancy,
Shane
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