The Call

Ever wondered how to know for sure if God is calling you to something? It could be something small...could be something big. But then again, who are we to judge whether something is big or small in God's eyes? I mean, Paul says in Colossians, "...but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thangsgiving, present your requests to God." So, we should pray and pray and pray until we hear some answer, right? Um, not so sure about that one. I'm sort of a huge fan of Francis Chan. In one sermon I heard, he says (me paraphrazing here), "Is it biblical? Yes. Is it at the very heart of God?! Yes. Is it hurting anyone?! NO?!!! THEN...DO...IT!!!" Really? Just...like...do it? Um, YES! So, onto the background. Several years ago, adoption came up as a topic of discussion. We (Dallas) weren't ready yet. Dallas still had this mindset that if we could have our own biological children, why on earth would we adopt? And, from Russia? We don't have 4 weeks worth of vacation and babysitters! Time lapsed, and it came up again. We (I) began looking into adoption agencies. Russia was then ruled out. Guatemala? (closed shortly thereafter) China? (Too young...TOO LONG!!!) And then there was Africa, and that's where I, if we're going to be completely honest here, got cold feet. What about racial differences? Was I really ready to be the mother in a trans-racial family? Now you're asking, "You already mentioned Guatemala! AND CHINA!" Yes. I did. And, I will be the absolute FIRST to tell you that I was raised in a colorblind family, if such a family exists, but for one reason or another, I was scared. What was I afraid of? Was it really race? Was it AIDS? Was it adoption in general? Enter DARBY. We were blessed with our third child. Well, Darby turned one last fall, and God presented adoption to us...AGAIN! ALRIGHT ALREADY, ALMIGHTY! WE GET IT! WE HEAR YOU! WE HAVE SAID "NO" ENOUGH TIMES ALREADY! Yes. You heard me. God called. He called, and called and called. We chalked it up to "prayer." When He knew it was merely FEAR that prevented us from saying, "YES, Lord. We will be used by you." We said, "No" to the Almighty. This time, Dallas brought it up, and he did NOT back down. God had gotten ahold of his heart...and shortly thereafter, mine. Right after Christmas (2010-since I have quite a bit of catching up to do with this blog), we applied to adopt from Ethiopia. I'm not holding back. We're all in! He is the Author of life! He is the author of our story. So, we can say, "Let me pray about that..." for a long, LONG time, which might end up being forever, or 'til the urgency of the call fades, or until we are once again desensitized to the crisis, in which case, our answer to God is, "No." Take a look at this video by Francis Chan.