"Gulp"

By Doug

So, on our 25^th Wedding Anniversary, my wife sends me this e-mail asking if I want to adopt a boy from Ghana?  How is a guy supposed to answer this question?

I remember my first thoughts being to send a quick response asking all kinds of questions, including – “what in the world are you thinking?”.  However, as I thought about it more, I felt this overwhelming sense that God may be asking us to bring this boy into our family.  I didn’t even know who the boy was, but I just felt a certain sense of this being right.  My response to my wife was simply – “gulp”.  I didn’t really know what else to say.

While I felt this unexplained sense of peace I also felt an incredible amount of uncertainty.  My gulp was one of fear, but excitement at the same time.  We have always felt a certain gift from God of being accepting of having kids besides just our own in our home.  By no means is parenting an easy thing, and we certainly realize our shortcomings, but regardless of how we feel about our parenting, deep down we always know that our deepest desire is for them to feel loved and to become all God wants them to be.

At this point in the journey I am overwhelmed with excitement and joy about the opportunity to be used by God and be a loving family for this boy.  It is probably one of the biggest steps of faith we have ever taken.  We are aware of the idea that this may not all go easily and smoothly.  We are also aware, and have already seen, how God will be along for the entire ride.