Now EVERYONE Knows!

We've been "public" about our decision to adopt for a couple of months now. However, up until this past Sunday the news has leaked out slowly. The only public announcement we've made was a month ago when we told the teens and their parents. While our closest friends and family have known for quite a while, there were still several people (even at church) who didn't know about it.

Sunday at church our family (minus Rhonda - she was working) was asked to share about our adoption in both services. Pastor had us sit around a kitchen table that was on the platform and asked us questions. Bethany and Kailey were pretty quiet. Bethany was willing to put in her two cents, sharing how we had prayed about and made this decision as a family and that she and Kailey were both giving up their current rooms so their Ethiopian brother(s) or sister(s) could have the biggest room.

Basically, I shared pretty much everything that appears in the blog entries called "Why We're Adopting" and "Why Ethiopia?" I'm guessing 1/3 of the church people didn't know we were adopting. Very few knew the details behind our decision.

I'm overwhelmed by the response. People are genuinely interested, supportive, and even encouraged by our decision. One elderly man was so excited that he chased me down when I left first service (the service was still going on and I was headed to the teen meeting) and shook my hand so hard my arm just about fell off my body. Another woman I barely know came and shared how people in her family have adopted internationally and expressed her excitement. A former teen in our youth group, now in his 20s, told me how his girlfriend's family is considering adopting a girl in Asia who was an abused sex slave. I heard another story of a white family in Toledo that adopted 6 sibling black children. That just scratches the surface. People who I'd never even seen or met before (a common occurance with two services) were standing in line to talk with me about the adoption...and on and on and on... The support keeps coming. There hasn't been a day this week where several people haven't made it a point to encourage me. We're truly blessed to have such overwhelming support from our church family. Thanks!