We Got Our Referral!!!

We finally got our referral!!

On February 19th we received the news we have been waiting on for 25 months... a referral for a sweet little 2 month old boy!!  We are thrilled that God has chosen us as his parents, and him as our son!  

Our son was abandoned outside of a factory a few miles from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We are naming him Isaiah James. Isaiah literally means God is salvation. We also felt this name was fitting since God had used Isaiah 43:5-7 as a confirmation and comfort throughout the adoption process. James was chosen for multiple reasons as well, James 1:17 says that "every good and perfect gift is from above", James 1:27 states that pure religion acts by taking care of widows and orphans. Additionally, God blessed us with our dear friends, James (Jim) and Brooke Pulling, that we met in Walmart one late Madison Heights night. We noticed them because of their adoptive children and because God had ordained that we should meet. The rest is history. So that is why James.

So why adoption? Why not "have your own" kids? Or why not close to home? The questions people have, both sincere, and some not as sincere, have all flooded it. The answer is rooted in the initial calling from Isaiah 43:5-7 "His Glory". That may seem like a confusing answer. "How does adoption bring your God glory?".....because he invented it.......

 ⁴ But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.^[b] 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,^[c] Father.” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. Galatians 4:4-7

We humans didn't come up with this great plan to rescue a child and call him our own, and make him an heir of everything we have. God did through Jesus Christ. God invented adoption and did it first. He sent his son Jesus to adopt us! 

In love ⁵ he^[b] predestined us for adoption to sonship^[c] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. Ephesians 1:5

That is why the answer to the question "why adoption?" is "his glory". This little story is not even about us. He put adoption in our hearts through his love and adoption of us into his family. He rescued me and has given me a desire and a heart to love one of his precious sweet children who need love. We gladly welcome little Isaiah James Harker into our family and praise God for this journey.