You Convince Him! Part 2

It must have only been days later when I somehow came across an article about two Chinese boys who were waiting to be adopted but were about to age out.  They both loved to play soccer and they had the fortunate opportunity to be sent to a soccer camp for a few months.  They wanted to be adopted together.

I emailed Scott and put in the subject line: "Brother(s) for Pacey?"  While the idea of adoption was still lingering in my head, I knew there was no way Scott would go for this.  We have little girls. These boys were teenagers!  There was no way he'd consider bringing in teen boys when we have little girls to protect!

But still, just to mess with him, I attached some links and wrote,

See Klarxon, he's the last one as you scroll down the page.  He only has 10 months left to be adopted.  

He and his best friend want to be adopted together:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPlmB-Xj2GM  

And they play soccer!  

We could do it!  All it would take is a little money, home study, a family vacation to China...etc.!  :D  Just sayin'!

Scott called me from work and I teased him about how I could finally have a kid or two that liked soccer.  But then he threw me off.  "Go ahead and ask about them."

"What?"  I was sure I didn't hear that right.

"You are just asking.  It doesn't hurt to ask."  

Did I just hear him right?  He told me to ask.  What if they were still available?  Then what?  I knew we weren't committed, but if they were available, we might actually have to have a conversation about these two!  

So on December 17, 2014, I wrote the agency advocating for these two boys:

Hi,

I was wondering if Klarxon and his friend Kendrix have been adopted yet?  If not, I was wondering if our family would be qualified to adopt them (I understand China has strict laws, but wasn't sure if they made exceptions for children with special needs or who are older).  We are not even sure if we are a good fit, but just wanted to ask.  We currently have five children in the home, one is 18, the others are under 18.  We have adopted before but never international.  

I expected the first part of her response:  The boys are currently in process.  

But the second part hit me good:  China does make many exceptions for families seeking to adopt older children.  China is also lifting the family size limits in 2015.  I would be happy to talk with you about the process!

Lifting the family size limit in 2015?  

All those tears on that four hour drive home, and now it has all changed!

I don't remember if Scott called me on the phone or if I had to wait for him to come home from work before I shared the news, but that news got the ball rolling.  Before I knew it, we were talking more and more about adoption again.  Most of the time, we were talking about how we didn't know if we could handle it.  We are already raising so many kids.  How could we possibly take on more? There were a lot of hard questions.  We had to be realistic about this.

A day after the response about the two boys, Addie came up to me and asked me if we were going to adopt.  She must have overheard some conversations Scott and I shared, but her confession still shook me up a little.

"Mom, a few nights ago I prayed and asked God if we were going to adopt.  Then last night I had a dream..."

As soon as she told me, I didn't know whether to call it silly or take it as a sign, but I looked right at her and said, "Go write it down."

She happily went off and on the first page, she wrote, "A few days ago I prayed!  Dear God, shall we adopt?"

On the second page, she wrote this:

"How cute," I thought. "She's trying to sound all, religious or something with her 'shall's."  And then I thought.  "What if it's true?  What if she really did dream this and I'm discounting it because she's eight?  So I kept it hidden in my end table drawer where it still remains.

A few days later, when we weren't even talking about adoption, Scott let out a long sigh.  When I asked him what was wrong, he said nothing was wrong, he just knew that we were supposed to adopt.  That was the moment that he was convinced.  That was the moment that I froze up.  Talking about it was one thing, but to admit that we were supposed to do this?  Suddenly I became very, very cautious. I was willing to talk about it, but to act on it? I would not act on my own!

The days passed, and we shared with my mom, who was visiting over our Christmas break, that we were thinking about adopting.  

More questions came up.

"What do you think about a private adoption?"  He asked.  

"I don't think that's the road we are supposed to take." I said. 

"Really?  Why?"  He asked.

I explained that I just felt like we were supposed to look at international adoption...that we were supposed to pursue a child who others might not want to adopt...you know, those considered 'the least of these."

After that, the conversation died down.  We enjoyed Christmas and the New Year celebration with our family and friends.  Then, when the holidays were over and done, Scott told me to start looking for agencies.  

He told me to act on it.  

"Are you sure?"  I asked.  

"Are you really sure?"  

I still couldn't believe it was happening.  My husband was telling me to start researching adoption agencies.  

He was definitely sure.