Everyday, Brenda helps bring
together families through international adoption and Children’s
Hope International. Very frequently it is through international
adoption that Brenda brings together her own family, too; Brenda
and her husband Ken have adopted nine children. Most recently,
Brenda became new mom to sisters – Kate and Izzy from Ethiopia.
It
is always amazing to see God really move in your life…and I can
tell you each and every time God has had to move us into His
plan, or we would not have adopted nine children! Usually, our
route to adoption involves fasting, prayer, and miraculous
signs. This was absolutely the case this time: from random
strangers, television shows, and our entire family’s support (a
miracle in itself!) to healthy physicals, a new job for my
husband with adoption benefits, and God’s provision of the
finances. I could go on and on.
For some reason God spoke in our
hearts to go to Ethiopia...and there is no better place to be
than where God calls.
So we began the joyful, arduous and
sometimes frustrating, but always faith-filled trek to find our
daughters in Ethiopia. Now, this is the part which is the same
every time we adopt...lots of paperwork, notaries not signing
their documents correctly, returning to the doctor’s office
three times to get the form done right, five long months of wait
for our immigration approval, lost dossier at the Secretary of
State - you get the picture. No, adoption does NOT come easy,
and I have done it before, and I am a professional! But nothing
worth having comes easily...and it could be easy to give up.
All
of this is what we see in the “physical realm.” But in the
spiritual realm, our hearts were being joined with Ethiopia and
our newest daughters...whoever they might be. God knew them,
knew their pain and suffering, and was holding them in the “palm
of His hand” until we could hold them in our arms.
When my feet finally hit Ethiopian
soil, I couldn’t wait to meet my new daughters. I had worried
about them: how they must be feeling, if they were scared or sad
or worried. They weren’t! They were all smiles and couldn’t wait
to go to America! Our oldest daughter was so excited that she
would not go to sleep on the airplane on the long trip home…she
was having the time of her life and she didn’t want to miss any
of it! (The attached picture was taken within the first 3
minutes of our meeting and becoming a family!) Needless to say,
they are well bonded, well behaved and totally delightful
children…and very little of this can we take credit for; we just
know that we are so blessed to be their parents!
Now
we have been home from Ethiopia a little over five months. Our
daughters are completely fabulous. Of course, I am their mother
and I am allowed to say this, but it is much more...or should I
say, they are much more than we had ever hoped or dreamed or
imagined! They almost seamlessly fit into our family...and how
they love all of my children... this has never been the case
when we adopted before!
My daughters are considered older
than usual to be adopted, at ages three and seven. They have
their stories of pain and loss; they have their resilience and
resolve...and JOY that amazes me daily! My daughter skips off to
school every day, singing and happy. She cries for her Ethiopian
mom, but in the next sentence tells me how much she loves her
American mom and family. I know she longs for her Ethiopian
family... How could she not? I am just glad she trusts us enough
to share her pain, and we can be conduits of healing in her
life. How amazing of God to allow us to be used like this in
their lives... and now to be the ones holding them.
Ethiopia has captivated my heart.
All the children that I saw while I was there were kind and
sweet. They all longed for a family. I noticed with one child at
the House of Hope, Children’s Hope transition home, who every
time a car would drive in would ask if that was his mommy and
daddy. These children are wonderful! I’ve been in 20 countries
with my work in adoption, and I can honestly say, Ethiopia is
special. The children are special.
Yes, they are orphans; they have had
great loss, but they have great promise! All they need is the
love of parents…and families. Could God be calling you to care
for “the least of these?”
Brenda has adopted from China,
Russia, Vietnam, and Ethiopia. Click here to learn more about
Children’s Hope International’s adoption programs in six
countries. (www.childrenshope.net)
2008 Children's Hope International.
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