When Kids and Bikes Converge

I realize it has been awhile since I last posted.  This was not by design, but rather because things got too hectic, trying to manage kids and bikes.

Last weekend, July 9 - 10, I participated in the Seattle to Portland Bike Classic (STP) to raise money for my missions trip to Ethiopia.  When you spend 20 hours on a bike riding 200 miles, you have alot of time with your thoughts.

While I was riding, I reflected on what was going on in our adoption process.  Over Memorial Day weekend, Beth and I had been wrestling for about two weeks over a child in Georgia that had a condition called schizencephaly (for more information, please see the following link http://www.schizkidzbuddies.com/).  As bad as this condition sounds, the child had had a recent ultrasound, and her condition had been upgraded significantly.  We pressed on, seeking guidance from friends, family and God.

Ultimately, and heartbreakingly, we declined and sent an email to the adoption agency.  The response surprised us; our profile, which was supposed to have been overnighted to Atlanta, had been sent to Grand Rapids, Michigan by mistake, effectively taking us out of the running.  Also, the other two couples who were also considering the child, backed out as well. 

Sunday morning of the ride, somewhere near St. Helens, Oregon, I get an email on Facebook from a friend.  Offering words of encouragement, she mentioned that she wanted to talk to me during the week.  Exhausted from already riding 160 miles, I put the BlackBerry away, and finished my ride.

Tuesday, July 13, this friend calls me at work.  She and her husband are also in the adoption process, and she shared with me her latest opportunity.  Thinking she was looking for counsel or support, I listenend intently, as she shared her story.  The child is in Alabama, the mother is caucasion, the father African American, and the lawyer was having trouble placing this child out of state, which was the mother's request.  And the baby was a girl.  However, my friend and her husband were not in a position to take this child, and I was sad for them.  Been there, done that.

What I didn't see was that my friend was trying to get us to consider this child.  However, even after an, "I don't want to pressure you but..."  I still didn't get it.  In my estimation, this was too far out of our realm of possibility because this was a private adoption, and we were commited to our relationship to our agency.  I didn't even share my conversation with Beth until after dinner, because I thought the news would be discouraging.  I could not have been more wrong.

Within 48 hours and with the help of my friend, the doors flew open, and we are on track to adopt this little girl.
Here is the kicker.  The due date for the baby is August 25th.  That means that I will be in Ethiopia, with my mission team, working with the adoption ministry when our daughter will be born.

The description of this blog, while not easily seen above states, "My journey of faith, to adotion, for adoption and to Portland.  This chapter started on my bike to Portland, and may culminate while I am in Ethiopia. 

How good is that?