I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. – John 14:18

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the black and white.  It’s easy to say YES to God while simultaneously saying NO when they put those checklist sheets in front of you…asking for your preferences in a child you would be willing to adopt.

Boy or girl?
Healthy or Special Needs?
What kind of special needs?
Age?

And, in black in white, it’s easy to check the boxes.  Nobody has names yet.  There are no faces staring back at you.  Your heart doesn’t hurt yet, it doesn’t cry out for justice…yet.  It’s neat.  Simple.  Black-and-white.

We, like every other family entering into an adoption without a child already picked out, filled out one of those papers.  But, it got less and less simple as we prayed.  Less black and white.  We asked God to lead, and in return, we felt Him saying:

“Are they not ALL my children?  Do they not ALL deserve families?  Do I not command that orphans be taken cared of … did I specify only healthy 0-2?”

And, that (plus many more conversations with our God), is in a nut shell, how our parameters widened in a way we didn’t see coming when we started in 2005 considering adoption.

PRAISE THE LORD!!  We are so grateful for His patience with us.

As many of you know, our dossier landed in Ethiopia Monday morning.

We were told to expect our “magic number” for the wait list on Friday.

However, things have changed.

We will not be getting a number on Friday.  Or, any day, for that matter.

Because we just accepted a referral!

So, what does that mean?

It means, we said YES!  We now have a file, a name, and photographs (we can’t post them online, but we can show you in person if you ask!)

It means… that in 2-3 months (ish – it’s a rough timeline), we will be traveling to Ethiopia and will appear before a judge and he will OFFICIALLY become ours in Ethiopia.  Then, 3-5 months after THAT (ish), we will travel again to Ethiopia to BRING HIM HOME.

It also means… we have yet another fee due soon!  This time, it’s to MEET him and then… BRING HIM HOME!

I know, many of you have so many questions… and I can’t wait to answer them all…but for now, I hope this suffices…

He is 5 1/2 (ish)…(I know, again with the -ish!).  He has the sweetest smile and… if you didn’t pick up with all the “he’s”…HE’S a boy!  Ha!  Surprise, I know, right? 

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By faith, we stepped out on this journey. But, as our personal financial reserves begin to dwindle and we are being called to lean more and more on Him and His invitation to others to Bless and Be Blessed on this journey, I begin to understand how Peter must’ve felt when Jesus told him to step out of the boat and come to Him.

Father, may our lives bring you glory (that is and was always yours) as we continue to seek Your Face. Thank you for allowing us to walk this journey with You by our sides. Thank you for all You will do. Amen.

Towards the beginning of this month, as we really began to move forward in our adoption journey, I began doing what I always do…

Reaching out.  Connecting.

In the process, I came across several other blogs of families who have adopted from Ethiopia, Ghana, and the Congo.

But, then something extraordinary happened… one of those people posted a link on facebook.  This link, hidden among other links – and, generally I don’t click through for that reason.  I get TONS of links through my FB feed every day and don’t click on many.  For whatever reason, I clicked on this one.

A website popped up, and it was a letter to teenagers and imploring they think before they choose to be cruel to others.  And there was this picture… a boy on a pony, and he seemed…familiar.  I couldn’t quite place it, and almost dismissed it, but then more pictures popped up… and, it really really bugged me that I felt like I knew this boy.

After a few minutes of searching, I found this:

And, my heart stopped.

You see, a bit before that, I’d seen this VERY photograph on a completely different website – a website full of faces, and THIS VERY ONE is the one that caught my attention.  And, there he was…again.  THIS was that boy.

The photograph itself isn’t really special or show-stopping… it’s very…beige.  But, it had never been my eyes that were captured…it’d been my heart.  Something so hard to explain.

Out of a sea of photographs, my heart had known that I was supposed to be praying for HIM.  And, then suddenly there he was again.

His name is Dzintars and he’s from Latvia (Europe).  For a few more days, he will be in America as a part of a host program where kids in orphanages get to spend 5 weeks in America to experience what it’s like to have a family and to be…LOVED.

He’s 14 and will be 15 this October – which means in just one short year, they will turn him loose on the streets where approximately 50 % of children from orphanages become criminals, prostitutes, or take in by sex-trafficking.

My husband and I have been praying for this boy specifically (and his host family) since we’ve seen his face.  We are still praying.

He’s funny, silly, thoughtful, compassionate, sweet, incredibly resilient, and so full of love.  His host family can attest that he would fit well in ANY family – even with younger kids.  He’s learning how to swim, loves theme parks, and likes trying new things.

Most of all, he wants a family.

His forever family is out there somewhere, will you help us find them (maybe it’s you?)?  A few people have even set up a matching grant SPECIFICALLY for him to help with the adoption costs.

Read more about this boy HERE.  This kid is special and going to do great things…