Called to Adopt

How I knew adoption was the next step for me.

I will be the first one to say that adoption was not my Plan A.  It wasn’t my Plan B.  Or my Plan C.

As a matter of fact, I think I’m all the way on Plan Q by now.

But the beauty of this is that God often uses closed doors to lead us to what He has for us.  When I started this journey months ago, if someone had told me “you’re going to adopt,” I probably would have said, “nope.  Not ready.  Not gonna.”  But now, because of the journey it took to get here, I can say with 100% certainty that I am ready to say YES to adoption.

Here’s how the journey began…

I love my job.  I love my ministry.  I love Kids Alive.  Ever since I moved here, I have felt that it has been a great fit.  But in April, I started to feel like something was missing.  Actually, I felt like something had always been missing, but I was only now beginning to realize it.

The more I thought about this missing piece, the more I felt the depth of its presence in my life.

When I first moved to Haiti, I felt called to minister to orphans and vulnerable children.  And that is exactly what I have been doing.  But three months ago, God revealed to me that I am not here to simply minister to them and teach them at school – I am here to care for them in a deeper way.  That was the missing piece.  Caring for orphans.

I didn’t know what this would look like, but I was ready to pursue whatever God had for me.  I prayed hard, sought out counsel from friends and family, and started working with Kids Alive to figure out how to go about this.

I prayerfully made a plan.

God said no.

I made another plan.

God said no.

Every time a plan fell through, I felt a combination of discouragement (is this ever going to happen?) and peace (God’s got something BIG planned, I just don’t know what it is yet).

Finally, one evening in June, I got an email from Kids Alive with the following suggestion: Adopt a child!

When I read that line in the email, a dull sense of numbness took over my chest and began to spread.  Maybe I had read it wrong.

I read it again.

Adopt a child!

Nope, it was still there.  Black text on a white screen glowing up at me from my phone.

I skimmed the rest of the email, then scrolled back up and read that line again.

Adopt a child!

It was still there, suggesting the same thing.  The numbness inside of me slowly changed to excitement.  Uncertainty.  Willingness.

I wasn’t sold on the idea yet, but I was getting there.

After meetings with IBESR (Social Services here in Haiti), conversations with other organizations, and afternoon talks with adoptive families who have been through (and are currently in) the process of national adoption, I finally got it though my stubborn head that YES, this is what God has for me.  And YES, I am all in.

It has been a crazy journey to get to this point, and I know that the journey has only begun.  If you want to know more, feel free to email me at erinahiggins@gmail.com 

Also, keep your eyes out for another blog post soon about how YOU can help bring my family home!