From where I left off from last August's blog post, I had just traveled around the world with my family. Little did I know I would be flying back across the Atlantic Ocean with another adoptive parent one month later so that we could each meet our adopted children in person for the first time in September.
That week in Africa changed everything. Amy and I had learned a trip to file paperwork with the U.S. Embassy in Africa would be very helpful. I was blessed to have another adoptive dad willing to go with me. The adoption process had already been stuck in
a suspension which kept adopted children from being able to leave their country for the past 12 months. I had felt a disconnect from my son as we did not have much progress in the adoption process. Our family had been distracted from adoption by God's call to help with the Wafodi family the previous 10 months.
The miraculous events which allowed the Wafodis to be reunited and cared for by families from our church would quickly be a forgotten memory. It spared Amy and I from our commitment of being legal guardians of 4 more children. (It is sad how quick I am to forget what great things God has done!) However, this opportunity to meet my son in September of 2014 changed everything. He was no longer someone in official documents or a photograph from an email attachment.
He was my son who I spent time with 24 hours a day for a whole week in my hotel room in a continent I had never been to. I did not expect to cry when I had to give him back before I left.
I was on FaceTime with Amy when his foster mom came to pick him up. I told our foster mom that we appreciated her and that we would be praying for my son every night. That. Is. When. I. Lost. It. I didn't know when I would see him again.
In November, Amy and I made a rare
trip without kids to New York to spend time with my youngest brother, D.J. and his girlfriend. We had a great time and were able to see them again when they came to Dallas for Christmas to be with me, Amy, my parents, Ben, and Preaw. Earlier in December, our family
enjoyed the snow in Park City, Utah, while spending time with Amy's parents, brother, and sister-in-law.
On New Year's Eve, Amy asked me if our family could move to Africa to be with our adopted son. We had been the legal parents who were financially responsible for him for over a year now. The problem was his country wouldn't let him leave. We had waited long enough. We decided we should move to be with him so that he could know his family and that we could all be together. That was not an easy decision at first, but then God began to make it clear that He wanted us to change our lives. We were willing to give up our homes, our way of life, our comfort, and our country to do what God wanted. We wanted what God wanted.
The hardest part was realizing we needed to tell our boss at work to replace us in June. It was the right thing to do. We needed to give them time to recruit doctors and get them credentialed at our hospital so that the current physicians would not be stretched thin covering our shifts. It was hard letting go of the only real job I have ever had.
There have been so many great memories at Baylor Garland (see pictures above and below) since I started there at 1pm on July 1, 2007.
I grew up as an emergency physician and as a person there. My wife, children, and I will always be thankful for what the Baylor Garland Emergency Department has meant to us.
God sets the lonely in families. (Psalm 68:6) He comes to us instead of leaving us as orphans. (John 14:18) Suddenly, we are now willing to do something we never dreamed we would be doing. We are committing to living in Africa. We are ready to move to Africa when school is over in May for our biological daughters. How long will we live there? We don't know, but likely until our son is allowed to leave with us, when we run out of money, or when God makes it clear to us. If God would like to change the minds of political leaders and suddenly start showing signs of allowing adopted children to come home, then we wouldn't have to move and give up the life that we have always experienced and expected. God's miracle of allowing Raymond to come to be with his family in Vickery in April 2014 released Amy and I from our commitment to being the legal guardians for his 4 children. Perhaps God will bring forth another miracle of ending the suspension of exit letters for adopted children. That would be 2 miracles in 2 years. I am praying daily for another miracle. I am ready for another miracle. We are doing all of this because we want to follow Jesus. He is all we want. He is all we need.
It has been exactly 500 days since the exit letter suspension which has kept our son trapped in Africa. Please sign
this petition (
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/end-drc-exit-letter-suspension-children-legally-adopted-american-families/GF9Qrb5L) for President Obama to contact President Kabila of the DRC to release the adopted children so that hundreds of American families can be united with their children. Thank you.
God sets the lonely in families. (Psalm 68:6) He comes to us instead of leaving us as orphans. (John 14:18) Suddenly, we are now willing to do something we never dreamed we would be doing. We are committing to living in Africa. We are ready to move to Africa when school is over in May for our biological daughters. How long will we live there? We don't know, but likely until our son is allowed to leave with us, when we run out of money, or when God makes it clear to us. If God would like to change the minds of political leaders and suddenly start showing signs of allowing adopted children to come home, then we wouldn't have to move and give up the life that we have always experienced and expected. God's miracle of allowing Raymond to come to be with his family in Vickery in April 2014 released Amy and I from our commitment to being the legal guardians for his 4 children. Perhaps God will bring forth another miracle of ending the suspension of exit letters for adopted children. That would be 2 miracles in 2 years. I am praying daily for another miracle. I am ready for another miracle. We are doing all of this because we want to follow Jesus. He is all we want. He is all we need.
It has been exactly 500 days since the exit letter suspension which has kept our son trapped in Africa. Please sign this petition (https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/end-drc-exit-letter-suspension-children-legally-adopted-american-families/GF9Qrb5L) for President Obama to contact President Kabila of the DRC to release the adopted children so that hundreds of American families can be united with their children. Thank you.
