Have you ever had a moment in which you knew you had to act? Have you had an event or situation that pulled you to take a leap of faith?
Life is often ï¬lled with these moments. Some are big, some are small. Some we can see the impact. Others we will not see the effect of our decisions and actions.
This past summer (2018), our family had one of those moments. We saw a picture of an 11 year old boy—an orphan—from Latvia. He dreamed of being in a family, fishing with a Dad, going places with a Mom, and playing with a sibling. We prayed over his picture for days and knew God was leading us to host this little blue eyed boy with the great big smile! We didn’t realize at the time when we said “yes” to orphan hosting that God had much bigger plans for this boy who loved to fish.
This past June we chose to host “A” from an orphanage in Latvia. On June 18, 2018, “A” arrived for summer hosting with just an empty backpack and a heart full of hope. We hosted him for 5 weeks and watched as this child transformed before our eyes. He was filled with joy every day and had an infectious laugh! Within weeks of his arrival we had all fallen in love with this precious boy! It was an amazing summer and the picture we had of our family was quickly changing.
On July 21, 2018 “A” had to return to Latvia, which was one of the most difficult days for all of us. In December he returned for Winter hosting and when he left on January 11th, we knew that God brought our son to us and this was the child we were called to love forever. There were some big mountains to be moved, but God was always working for “A”s good and His glory and we are now in the process of adopting our sweet boy.
Our adoption will require three trips to Latvia, the first trip is a required in country care and custody stay of three weeks. As an older orphan, if not adopted and pulled out of the inadequate and harsh social and physical surroundings in Latvia, his future is bleak. Adoption will give him a second chance at life, with love, support, structure, nutrition, and medical care, but most of all a chance to have a forever family who loves him and loves the Lord. Adoption is a beautiful reflection of God’s love and we give all praise and thanks to Him for choosing us to be “A”s forever family. “We love because He first loved us” 1 John 4:19.
