Not long ago at all, adoption was far from our minds. We were comfortably living the American dream with our two precious daughters who both have Daddy’s eyes and Mommy’s hair. Then God began to move our hearts. Initially, there were many excuses why adoption was not a good idea for us. One day I made a mental list of these reasons to not adopt and was shocked to realize that every last reason was selfish.
After this acknowledgement it didn’t take long to decide that we wanted to pursue international adoption from Ethiopia. There were logical reasons for choosing Ethiopia, having to do with the time frame, travel requirements, etc. but it went deeper than that. My heart has always had a special burden for Africa, and it felt like God was giving us the perfect opportunity to act on that burden. It was truly a call from God.
A friend recommended the book Adopted for Life by Russell Moore and I can never express how much it changed us to read this book. Although it was not new information to read of our position as adopted children of God, we were seeing it with fresh eyes. Adoption was God’s idea! If He adopted us, shouldn’t we be imitating His actions in this world full of orphans? After all, the book of James defines our faith as orphan-protecting. And what greater way is there to fulfill of the Great Commission than to adopt a child from “the world” and bring them into our family to teach and disciple in the ways of the Lord.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. - John 14:18
When these truths penetrated our hearts, we were struck by Jesus’ words in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” It became an inspiration for us. We will live out this action on earth while we wait for His coming for us. We knew we were going to adopt, but what else could we do to make a difference? Then this endeavor was born to fulfill a three-fold purpose. First, we had discovered that there is not a whole lot of adoption themed jewelry and adoption-inspired clothing available, and thought we could do something to change that. I’m sure we’re not the only family longing to make a positive statement about adoption to the world! Secondly, we knew that researching adoption is tedious and thought we could compile some of the information on our site to make it a little easier to sift through. Thirdly, the opportunity to sell the clothing and jewelry is a perfect way to build our adoption fund. It is hard to come up with the kind of money needed for adoption without getting creative, so this is our creativity at work!
Thanks for checking out our site and taking the time to get to know us. If you wish to know more about us and follow our progress in our adoption, you can follow our blog. We’re looking forward to the day when we can introduce you to our new child, who won’t have our eyes or hair, but will be ours just the same and loved with an inexpressible love.
Waiting For His Coming,
David and Erin Hurley
