Arkansas to Africa {part 4- Not on the Same Page}

I have had several people ask me, "how in the world did y'all wind up in Africa"?

Most of the time that ends with me stuttering around and giving some kind of a lame answer.

Not because there isn't a really good (non-lame) answer,
but because it is hard to know where to get started.

Sooo, I thought I would begin to share the story that God wrote for us.
It is a looonng story that spans many years.
But don't worry, no chapter book today!
I will give it to you a bit at a time!

If you want to catch up to speed you can find: 
Part 1 {here}
Part 2 {here}
Part 3 {here}

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(print via pinterest www.instapray.com)

I had heard God clearly promise me more children, but the next year led me to wonder if I had heard wrong.

After a frustrating year of no "two pink little lines" and a taste of what my friends who have experienced difficulties getting pregnant had gone through, we decided to have a little exploratory surgery to see what was going on. I remember coming out of surgery expecting to hear that the problem had been fixed and that we would be adding to our family again, but that wasn't the news my doctor told me. Instead, I learned that my ruptured appendix had caused so much damage that having biological children was pretty much out of the question. 

This was a hard pill to swallow. I begged God to take away the desire for more children, but He didn't. I soon began to start looking into adoption. I had always worked with kids and knew I could love a child that didn't grow in my womb as my own. I remember going to bed at night and then sneaking back up once my husband was asleep and doing hours of research on the computer. I researched agencies, looked at domestic adoption, foster care, international adoption, crunched numbers and devoured blogs. God started to do something in my heart and resurrect my dreams of having more children. After a dark year, I began to feel excitement and hope!

I came to my husband with my new found information on adoption and was underwhelmed by his response. It was pretty much a no-go. Having children is pretty much a joint decision and requires you to be on the same page. In defense of my man, he is very practical and a big planner. I had been able to stay home with our 2 boys since they were born and the only way he saw us affording adoption was by me going back to work and finding full time childcare for our kids. That just didn't make sense to him. So, I asked him to pray. This was around November and we committed to not discuss the topic again, pray about it for a month, and come back together after Christmas to see where God was leading us. I hoped it was on the same page, but honestly doubted that we would line up on this one.......

Stay tuned next week for part 5!

Linking up with Casey Wiegand Blog today.

{I am excited to be guest posting on According to Laura Jean today! I feel like God has me in a season of reflection and wants me to look back, remember, and see how faithful He has been to us. Hop over and say "hi" and peruse through Laura's posts! Love her positive outlook on life and God glorifying family!}