In the beginning...

Some of you may be wondering how this all began...

Adoption has been a thought in the back of my mind for years. I went through my journals to find this entry:

November 7, 2001
"On my way home from work today, I found myself crying out to You -- not knowing if I'd ever get married, sharing my heart's desire to have children, knowing that I would not be able to adopt because of financial security. At the same time I thought about the possibility of being the guardian of one of the families that I am close to (making sure You knew that I didn't want anything to happen to them). Tonight, my friend Claudia im'ed me and asked me to call her. I did. She asked me if I would consider being the guardian of their children should something happen to Hank and her. God, You are so faithful to me. You know the desires of my heart."

Wow! I am always amazed how God is in the details!

Well, time went by, I got a job as the Director of Children's Ministries and finances were no longer an issue. However, I was living in a one-bedroom apartment and adoption was still not an option...in fact, I didn't even think about it.

Last summer, I decided it was time to move when my landlord chose to raise my rent yet again. So, I found a two bedroom apartment in Shrewsbury. At that point, space was no longer an issue, but the idea of adoption didn't even cross my mind.

In November, Jodie and I went to the Steven Curtis Chapman concert in Lowell. (For those of you that don't know, SCC is a great advocate for adoption.) During the concert there was a number in the corner of the backdrop that kept increasing throughout the night. It was small and I'm sure most people didn't even notice it, but it was annoying me. After the intermission, SCC started talking about that "annoying" number. He said that number represented the number of children throughout the world that became orphans during the time we were at the concert. WOW! On our way home, Jodie bluntly asked, "So, why don't you adopt?" As I shared my story, I realized that there were no longer any barriers. I spent hours praying and researching adoption when I got home. It was then that I decided I would like to adopt a child through the Department of Social Services here in Massachusetts.