The Root Family

We were content with our crazy family of five. Despite struggling with infertility, Jason and I had three amazing children. But after our third miracle conception, we were exhausted, and decided without seeking God's will, to take ourselves off the infertility roller coaster. Five years later, I found myself mourning the loss of what God's plan for our family might have been. I repented and asked Him to reveal to us what He wanted for our family. I was thinking more of a miracle conception, or the peace that three children was the plan after all. . . I never contemplated adoption. But then we heard the call "Go bring home Caleb from Africa."

Jason and I began researching agencies and were first focused on finding one who worked through Ghana, but the more we prayed, the more we felt God continuously calling us back to AWAA. Out of fear we kept asking God to show us where the money was going to come from before we would apply. But we kept hearing back, "Apply and I'll show you the money." This went back and forth a good while until Jason said, "I think we need to just be obedient." We applied in February of 2009, and the next day Jason got a call from a competing company offering him a position with an increase in pay equal to the expected cost of our adoption.

In May, Jason woke from a dream and informed me the Holy Spirit had shown him we were going to have a girl and boy, they would be 2 and 4, and we would be home in January 2010. Since I was the one doing most of the paperwork, and educating myself daily on the process, I told him he was crazy and obviously hadn't heard the Lord, because siblings were like winning the lottery, and no adoption process could start and end in 11 months. But he never wavered. Even at our home study our social worker gave him the same, "You're crazy" look when he told her.

Because of how rare sibling referrals are, our family coordinator strongly suggested we submit our request to accept a single referral as well. We were comfortable with that, knowing that God would send us the perfect child[ren] regardless. We submitted our Dossier in August 2009, and nine days later got the call I thought we would wait 6 to 9 months for. "We need to know if you would be willing to accept a single 4 year old girl." The moment I heard Bekelech's name I felt the Lord graft her into my heart, and I decided God must be planning a second adoption down the road for our 2 year old. Then the next day, a rarity occurred, and AWAA called to remove our referral. Although they couldn't say why, we were told not to expect her to be available again. We felt like we had suffered a miscarriage. As we grieved, we simply kept hearing the Lord singing over us, “Wait patiently upon the Lord, be still my soul, be still." We confessed with our hearts that God was in control, and although the pain was difficult, we knew it would be for the Lord's glory. A few days later AWAA called to let us know that the situation had been resolved. It was discovered that an error had accidently separated Bekelech's paperwork from her two year old brother's, and that if we would accept them, they were both available to us!! Of course without hesitation we said Yes!

We continuously stand in awe of how God moves to connect the right family to each child! As our son says, "I can't believe we got THESE kids! They're awesome." Had Bekeh and Caleb come in as a sibling referral they would have been referred out to a family ahead of us in line. Perhaps Satan thought he could hurt them by having them adopted by separate families, or maybe it was only "simple human error," but regardless, God used it to connect our children to us. We arrived home in January 2010 with our two and four year old brother and sister from Ethiopia, just as Jason prophesied in May.

So many miracles occurred beyond these, and we'd love to share them with you, or anything else you want to know! Will your journey look like ours? Most likely not. Ours, like everything God does, was tailored made for us. But He'll orchestrate your journey for your family. He'll use your obedience to bring you deeper, closer, and more intimately into His presence where true joy and adventure await. Don't over think it, don't over plan it. Listen to His call and step out. It's a pure adrenaline rush to hear Him direct you and to watch Him miraculously move and provide.

Our story continues on our blog, The Crazy Roots Adoption Journey.

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