Why Ethiopia When There Are So Many Children Here?

The question I probably get asked most frequently is why are we choosing to adopt from Ethiopia when there are so many children in the United States that need a home.  This is a very good question and a question that will probably have as varied a response as there are choices of beverages at Starbucks.

We came to our personal decision through a series of life events, circumstances, happenstances, and encounters with various people God planted in our path.  Starting long before my husband and I were even married, the desire to adopt was planted firmly in each of our hearts.  We discussed this desire, shook on it, and said let's make it happen.  For four years we prayed about our adoption and asked God to lead us in the right direction.  We wanted to adopt where there was a great need, a need not only for children to be placed in loving homes, but a need for eyes and hearts to be opened.  We did our homework, spoke with numerous adoption agencies, and made it a point to seek out adoption resources.  For the month leading up to our application being submitted, there was a two week period where not a day went by that I did not run into an Ethiopian family.  At Costco, the local park, the coffee shop, everywhere I looked, I saw what God wanted me to see.  The door was opened and now it was our job to walk through it.

You see, each journey is unique.  How we arrived at our decision will differ greatly from how another adoptive family arrived at theirs.  Since God has led us to Ethiopia, so many wonderful things have occurred in our life.  Our eyes have been opened to the great need of children around the world.  To quote the lyrics to Brooke Fraser's song Albertine, "Now that I have seen, I am responsible."

There are 147 million orphans in the world, each of them a child of God.  God does not create without purpose and therefore each of these lives is worthy in His eyes.  Are they worthy in our eyes as well?