Adoption Thoughts

Ever since I was a little girl, I know that the idea of adoption has floated around in my head with a hope that someday I might be able to adopt a child. More specifically, a black child. See, my mom was adopted and she has only ever had good things to say about it. Granted, she was adopted as a newborn and so she doesn't have feelings attached to another mother. But, she thinks it was a God-ordained thing that saved her life. Literally. So, the idea of being able to give a home, lots of love and maybe even life, in one form or another, by adopting a child has always intrigued me. Well, intrigued may be the wrong word. I believe that I have a lot of love to give and would be honored to share my home and my heart with another child that did not arrive in this world via my womb! I also don't look upon mothers that give their child away for adoption with anything but the utmost respect. These women have carried their child for 9 months, bonding with and loving this unseen creation. They have birthed these children. They have nursed these children. They have watched them smile, laugh, crawl, walk, run, grow and love. And, they have decided that what they had to offer was not the absolute best for their child. They had to decide that the life and future of their child is more important than keeping them close by. I cannot imagine the pain these mothers endure of having their child taken from them, even if it is willingly. No, I cannot think of these women with anything but respect.

I have told Jay many times about my desire to adopt but never once have I mentioned this to my kids. The other day, Pepe was talking about church. He wanted us to remind him to bring his Bible and his offering to Sunday School. The offering is for orphans in Africa so they can have clean water and food to eat. I guess in Sunday School Pepe mentioned that maybe the money could buy the kids some parents because as orphans they don't have parents and wouldn't it be good for them to have a mom and a dad? He was told you cannot buy people! I told him that he was right, it would be good for the orphans to have a mom and a dad. I told him that he should pray to God that God could bring a mom and a dad to the orphans. He said that he would pray that God would bring an orphan to live with US. That God should bring one orphan. No, that He should bring 2 orphans, a brother and sister, to live with US. Remember, I have never talked about adoption with him until this conversation. I explained to him about adoption and how his nana was adopted. But he came up with this idea of the orphans living with us all on his own, before I explained adoption. Maybe that boy will have more faith than I do and pray for those orphans and God will bring 2 to live with us, just like Pepe said! I think about the logistics, the expense, the space we don't have. Pepe thinks about the mom and dad, the food and the clean water the orphans don't have. I wish I could think more like him. Needless to say, I was slightly amazed at the end of our conversation! What will the future hold? Will it include the faces of a little African boy and his sister? Dare I hope?