How the Lord led us on this journey called adoption! God pulled our hair Chp 1

(This is slightly edited from a post I made on a homeschool forum last September)

Has God ever reached out of Heaven & pulled your hair? Our adoption story, chp1

Okay...this could get long. Ever since I was a little girl, I've had a soft spot for orphans. I always knew I wanted to adopt when I was grown. I LOVED the Broadway play, "Little Orphan Annie," read the "Elizabeth Gail" series of books over & over & over, frequently watched "The Children Nobody Loved," (a movie made in the early 80's, I think)...anyway, you get the picture. The Lord created me with that burden in my heart.

My husband was never really interested in adoption. It was always...maybe someday but I'm NOT interested in it right now. (period.) I never pushed it or pressured him because I believe it to be a huge undertaking and a call from God. If we are meant to do it, God will put it on his heart. That's the stance I took. Still do.

Well, almost two years ago, we were enjoying a concert by the Watoto Children's choir (orphan children from Uganda) and he informed me that he would really love to adopt an orphan from Africa SOME day... This was a HUGE step. I understood that he didn't want to do it right then...we were in the middle of building a house, he was working almost 24/7, it wasn't a good time. But it showed he was interested. The Lord was working on his heart!

So, we finish our house, move in, etc. We've been in our house for about 9 months now. At the beginning of Summer (after about 6 months), I asked him if he was interested in pursuing this. He pretty much shrugged & said, not yet. I, of course am feeling the burden stronger than ever.

"He DID say he would LOVE to adopt someday...well when is some day????"

Meanwhile, people all around us are adopting like crazy. So, it's come up several times over the Summer. So & so has their kids now...so & so decided to adopt, etc., Isn't that great???

Well, a couple weeks ago my dh told me that at this point, if we were ever going to adopt, God would have to reach out of heaven, pull him up by the hair and tell him to do it. (He said it very good naturedly but was very serious!) It was his way of telling me he's NOT interested anymore.

I smiled, said, "God can do that!" and left it at that. Inside, I was crushed. I knew that God could still call him to this if he wanted but I was starting to doubt this calling on my life.

Less than a week later, dh came up to me with tears in his eyes and wanted to know if I was still interested in adopting an orphan from Africa.

"Was I??? Yes....WHY??? Did God reach down & pull you up by your hair and tell you to?"

"Well....I just feel like there is a huge need out there and we have plenty of room & love and I believe we should..."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!"

I then proceeded to ask him if he still wanted to several times a day for the next few days. He DOES! He has done a complete turn around.Wow!!! God can choose to work fast on people's hearts when he wants to. This is no longer SOME day. This is now! He wants to get the ball rolling...So...we're spending a lot of time in prayer and trying to find out as much information as possible. We would appreciate your prayers.