Why Ethiopia?

Flashing back almost a year ago we were visiting family in Texas. My parents dragged us to the museum of natural history to an exhibition on Lucy. Said to be on of the oldest human remains to ever be found on the face of the earth. Thinking back we wish we had paid more attention because we are now going to not only be bringing a child into our home from Ethiopia (the home of Lucy), but also bringing forever a culture into our house. Thinking back this was for sure a sign of the path we are now on.

Follow this link if you want to read a little more about the rich history of Ethiopia:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/ethiopia/history

So why does this matter, a kid is a kid and people are people? One of the big questions we get is why Ethiopia? So that question leads us to believe it does matter. Much of it we will be honest is for selfish reasons. The path of adoption from Ethiopia is about one year (vs. 24 months for many countries), the cost is much less than many countries, and well the kids are beautiful. When we were in the process of selecting a country you start to educate yourself on a whole new world. You begin asking yourself, what is the food like, what are their traditions, and how can we bring those traditions into our home? What are the people like? What language is spoken there? It all seems like an alternate universe that you must transport yourself to mentally to see if you would be okay with it all. Both of us have found one another day dreaming of those brown eyes and beautiful skin looking at us with the heart of unconditional love as we stare back with that same heart.

We both came to the quick realization after beginning this journey that deciding on a country would be a very difficult decision. We comment on the practical reasons above but in reality it comes down to that tug at your heart, that dream of a family, and faith that God will guide you. For us we had it narrowed to two countries based upon our ability to adopt a child under one knowing that we would be first time parents. Once we narrowed the countries down to our select few we prayed, fasted, and waited. You will get to know that we are pretty impatient so trust us we didn’t wait long. We also knew that as time goes by there are more and more homeless children while we run through the “practicalities” in our head.

We needed a nudge a push over the edge to guide our steps. We got that push one night we went to an informational meeting with Holt to help us clarify any questions as well as meet a family who had recently adopted. We came to the meeting knowing we could not move forward without selecting a country. The family was introduced and to this day I don’t think we could tell you any details about the family only about the new addition to their family. We instantly notice her amazing smile and laughter that could light up the darkest of moods. All of the sudden our fears of never having a family had vanished in the blink of those beautiful brown eyes.

We are not sure if this answers the question for so many of you have wondered about our choice. It can best be described as one of those moments in life when you can clearly see the path in front of you and taking that next step. We can tell you this is not a decision of America, or China, or the multitude of other countries on this planet where children go hungry in the streets waiting to be loved and cared for. Our decision is God’s heart for children, our desire for a family, and knowing that when we ask in faith we will be guided in the steps we should take next.