Adoption – Pulling on My Heartstrings

I’ve always felt a calling to adopt. Adopted at 3 months old from Seoul, South Korea, I’ve known ever since I can remember that I am adopted. It is through my adoption experience that I have always known the unique and special way that my parents have loved me. It’s through their love that I have always felt this calling.

A few years back, I felt the calling again. I was reading a parenting magazine and an article jumped out to me. It was specifically about an adopted Korean mom who ending up adopting a Korean baby girl. The article discussed that the adoption process was much easier/smoother because of the mom’s adopted history. I kept saying “That’s Me!” I even clipped the article, which still is hanging on the fridge. I look at it time to time, dreaming about a future with another beautiful Korean baby in the house.

Then I heard the calling again. We were sitting in church and I heard God talking to me. The pastor was telling a story about a couple who had a calling from God to adopt a child from Korea (my ears instantly perked). Worried about the money to adopt, they prayed. They knew they needed $15,535 to adopt a child from Korea. They told 1 person, the wife’s mother. The wife’s mother instantly took action and wrote to her friends. Those friends in turn wrote checks to the couple. In all, they collected $15,500 (crazy, right?). And if that wasn’t an answer to prayer, they had their kids babysat one night. When they went to write the babysitter a check (which happened to be in the amount of $35), the babysitter told them “Keep it for the adoption.”  What a seriously personal and powerful story.

Ok, so I get that God is totally bonking me on the head. I’m at a point in my life where I now have 2 beautiful kids, a boy and a girl, the perfect set. And I’m still breastfeeding. Can I really take on another child? Is God tugging on my heartstrings to adopt right now…or just sending me yet another gentle reminder about the future? Or is this just a reflection of my past and how I should be offering more praise and thanks to God for my existence? Only some serious time in prayer will answer this. (But don’t worry, I’ve already started.)

While I have no immediate answer, I know that I will always have a soft heart for adoption. It is a wonderful and thrilling experience. I admire anyone who goes through the process. I have always felt loved and extra loved for being adopted. I feel a great connection to any person who is adopted, and a longing to go through the adoption process myself.

I appreciate God taking the extra special moments to show me yet again how extremely fortunate I am to have a place on this earth. That God’s infinite love for me is expressed in way that few people get to experience. Who knows? Perhaps my adoption may inspire you to look into your own hearts for adoption. My unique adoption story is something that I treasure, will pass down to my kids and hopefully will leave a legacy behind that has God telling me in heaven “well done my good and faithful servant.”