Haiti...Why Haiti?

Well, that my friends is a loaded question. That simple answer...God sent us there. The rest of the story...

Haiti was brought to our attention before we were married. I knew of a family in Eastern Oregon that adopted a sibling group from Haiti, back when we were dating. It was big news, not only were they adopting, but from another country and their kids were black. BIG news, made the front page of the papers. We were drawn to this family, and even emailed them a few times with questions. And life happened, and we knew it wasn't the right time and we moved on.

Over the years, we always talked about adopting -and it was almost always about Haiti. During that time, we saw orphanages close down, the government deteriorate, and wondered if Haiti was even going to be an option when it came time. We decided if Haiti was closed when it was time, we'd look at other possibilities.

Last year, we were debt-free and praying about how and when to move forward. Our 'splurge' for becoming debt-free was to finally give up the rabbit ears and get cable. I know -we went crazy! The first week, I noticed a show called Adoption Stories. So I set the new fancy DVR to record it at 3:00 am. I sat down the first day to watch it, and it was about a family adopting from Haiti. An orphanage we had been looking at, and knew others that were adopting through. I thought that was interesting, entertaining, and I enjoyed it. I told R about it, and he just smiled and nodded.

I went on praying, and hoping for an answer soon. The waiting was making me nervous, was God going to say no after all of this time. Yet, no real direction or decision was right. The next week, there was another episode. I sat and cried the entire 30 minutes, even as I fast-forwarded through the commercials. It was the same orphanage, in Haiti. And I knew. As much as I knew I'd marry R as we drove that day to LaGrande. As much as I knew CN was a girl before our ultrasound, as much as I knew P would be our challenge from the first somersault in the womb. I just knew. I printed out the application that afternoon, and told R I knew. And I'd wait for him to know, as long as it took. I tucked the application away, and continued to pray for his heart to know.

Then 2 weeks later, on a weekend it happened. And it was undeniable. We had been at R's parents house, and he'd been out back kicking the ball around with his brother and nephew. On the car ride home he mentioned that would like a son to do those things with. He shared he was praying about it, and thinking hard. It was my turn to smile and nod. I knew the door was starting to open, and I needed to be patient and not push. As much as I truly wanted too...

We went home, and invited a friend over to watch the Adoption Stories I had on the DVR. There was a new one, and so we started with it. It also was the story of a family adopting from GLA in Haiti. We sat and watched, and as the father started to kick the soccer ball with his new son - I started to cry. I looked at R and it was obvious he noticed it to. Sometimes, God makes it obvious - and we felt it was obvious. We went to bed that night, and talked openly about it. We both knew it was to be Haiti, to be GLA, and a son. We knew R would kick the ball around, we knew we'd one day stand in that courtyard and meet our children for the first time. We knew this was in God's will for our lives, and felt secure in moving forward.

The next week I sent our application into GLA, and we were accepted. Even as we have watched other family wait for long periods for the process to move, and knowing there are other countries it is 'easier' to adopt from, we know Haiti is where God wants us. Even if it's harder, even if it means a longer wait, even if it doesn't make sense. And as soon as we looked at R and Er's eyes, we knew why. Haiti is where they are at. GLA is the orphanage they'd be taken to. God has been guiding us there, knowing our children would be there. He was getting us ready for them. As their paths were leading to us. And that is why Haiti...

And folks, that is the rest of the story... (I grew up listening to Paul Harvey)