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November 9, 2008Our hearts have always been for adoption, since before we were married. I remember talking with Bob about having our own children, as well as adopting.It’s so easy to see in hindsight, how God has been weaving this tapestry of adoption inmy heart since I was a little girl.I remember agreeing with my friend Jennifer that we were going to grow to bemissionaries in Ethiopia and live in grass huts. I believe the seed of Ethiopia was planted in my heart when I was around 12 years old.Adoption had not even been on our radar. Life has been so busy with our 3 boys, our small farm, remodeling the house, finishing the basement, home-schooling, sports… justlife.On August 17, 2008, that all changed.We were at church; the Hood River Vineyard. Our amazing worship team was leadingus in He Reigns, by The Newsboys. We’ve sang this worship song for a few years, buteach time, without fail, I tear up. In fact, when I hear the first chords and realize whatsong they are starting, I feet my throat tighten and my eyes get drippy. “Here we go,” Ithought. I had no idea what God was about to do.“It’s the song of the redeemedRising from the African plain”That is when I saw her. She was between 12-18 months old, in a white tank top, her hair was in pigtails, tied with pink ribbons. I could see her from the waist up. I heard Godsay, “Bring them home” and I instantly knew. I knew she was in Ethiopia. I knew shewas our daughter. I knew I needed to go get her.Stumbling over to Bob, tears streaming down my face, I shared the vision. His eyeswelled up and he said, “You are right. Tell me more. What does she look like? ” We both knew. We had heard the call.It is said that in that moment, the child is conceived in your heart and you will never bethe same. It was the moment of conception. We were pregnant with our daughter, andour lives would be forever changed.In the next couple of days, we began talking to the boys about it. Life with a sister.Adding another child to our family – a little girl. Some were excited, some werehesitant, some wanted to know how it would effect them. “Do I have to share my bed?”one asked. We talked about orphans, and children who needed a family. We talkedabout how some children don’t have a mom and dad. We talked about life, and abouthow all life is important and valued by God.

In early September we started telling our families. Everyone was excited, supportive andencouraging. We encouraged them to ask questions, and most of all, to pray for us. Itwas exciting to share our heart with them. Lee and Irene had seen an AGCI brochure inthe counter a fews prior, so were not surprised to hear our news. I’ve always told my parents that one day we would adopt, so they were not surprised either. It was fun to talk about God’s heart for adoption and how this was all His idea in the first place. We areadopted into His family.We began researching agencies. I have several e-maginary friends who have adopted, soI began talking with them about agencies. One name kept coming up: All God’sChildren International. There are several great agencies that assist with Ethiopianadoptions, but AGCI has a truly Christian agency, that really cares about the children, andthe potential adoptive families. I was told that if I wanted a “warm fuzzy hand-holdingexperience”, that AGCI might be the right agency for me.It seemed too good to be true when I found out that they were located in Portland, OR. Iwent to their website and was impressed with what I saw, so I requested an info pack.We decided to attend an adoption seminar that they were hosting at their office on Sept18

. Our main motive was to check out the agency, get a feel for the people and discernif they were a good match for us.AGCI requested that we complete a Pre-Adoption Application. They called a few dayslater to inform us that we qualified to adopt from two countries – Nepal and Ethiopia. Iwas in awe. Of all the countries in the world that we could adopt from, we qualified for two. One of them just happened to be the country that God told me that our daughter was in – amazing! Coincidence? I don’t think so.The morning of Sept 17

, I decided to call my friend and neighbor, Angela Morrill, to tellher our exciting news. We were just beginning to tell people outside of the family. TheMorrill’s live just up the hill from us. In fact, the home that we live in, was her grand-dad’s house. This 20 acre parcel was his original homestead. Jon and Angela have builta beautiful log home on their 18 acres, and we’ve rebuilt her grand-dad’s house.Angela and I had never discussed adoption before, so when I called and told her I hadexciting news, she suspected that I was pregnant. “Nope, not pregnant, but close. Weare in the early stages of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia.” I did not expect thescreaming and excitement that came from her end of the line. On August 24, she and Jonhad heard the call, and also decided to adopt from Ethiopia. A little girl. Under the ageof 2. “What? No Way!” I exclaimed.Yes, my closest neighbor, and good friend, is on the same journey. If we use the sameagency, it is likely that our girls will come from the same home – Hannah’s Hope inAddis Ababa. Crazy. Crazy God stuff.