We've been asked this question quite a few times recently. I will attempt to share "Our Story", although, how we came to adopt Evian truly is "God's Story". Sharing a God-sized story in a short blog post will have to miss many of the details along the way.
So, quick history...1999 Russ & Di started dating, got engaged, got married. During that time, had a couple of conversations about adoption. Basically, Di thought it was a great idea and expressed possibly wanting to adopt someday. Russ didn't share that passion. 2001 Baby #1 - Elianna born. 2003 - Baby #2 - Ember born. 2005 - It's time for Baby #3!
Baby #3 didn't come as easily as #1 and #2. This started a conversation between God and Russ, that even Di didn't know about. Russ started to ask himself and the Lord questions like: "God, adoption is your idea. You adopted me into your family. Why am I unwilling to adopt?" That conversation went on for several months. Then, Russ brought me in on it.
We talked, prayed, and realized that God was leading us to adopt. The Lord made it pretty clear to pursue adopting a baby girl in China. Having been there, we saw firsthand the lack of opportunity for girls especially, due to cultural norms.
God showed us that we had two things to offer - adoption into our family, and the incredible opportunity to be adopted into God's family through a relationship with Jesus. Back to God and Russ's conversation, Ephesians 1 in the Bible says: "Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. What pleasure He took in planning this!"
So, it was December 2005 - we were officially accepted by our adoption agency. April 2006 - our paperwork was officially "logged in" in China. April 2010 - we received Evian's "referral". And now, May 2010 - we're bringing her home! This is God's Story!
