We're Adopting!

We are so excited to announce that we will be adopting a 3 year old little boy from Zimbabwe! :o) His full name when we adopt him will be Anesu Matthew. Anesu means "God with us" and Matthew (the name Jeff and I have chosen for him) means "Gift from God" I think it is a very fitting name! Anesu will hopefully be coming to Canada in mid-July. It has been a whirlwind past couple months but I'm sure it is nothing in comparison to what it will be like with a toddler in our home! lol! Let me give you a little taste of what's been happening...

On March 31st I woke up to find an e-mail in my facebook inbox from a friend of ours who we went to Bible College with in Winnipeg. Busi was an international student from Africa. She had written the e-mail to several friends saying that she had many losses in her family and due to those tragedies was now the legal guardian of 8 kids in total. She went on to say that she had been praying about how to care for these kids, since she was in school doing her masters and so finally made the decision to place 3 of them for adoption.

As I continued to read I believe my heart stopped...

"The youngest from my sister who passed away last year is Anesu a normal 2 year old full of life and so so cute."

As I read that sentence my mind began to spin. Could this be our child? I went immediately to Jeff to see what he thought; should I write her back or not? he said go for it. And so I wrote her saying that we were in the middle of our homestudy and we would be willing to start praying for little Anesu and whether we should be his parents.

Later that day I had a reply that she would call me that night. I was so anxious to get that phone call. Would she want us to be his parents? And if so, what were we getting into! Where was he living... in Africa or in Winnipeg? Was he healthy? I had so many thoughts flying around in my head.

When the phone rang that evening I think I was a little more calm and maybe more "realistic" about the whole thing. I kept thinking that maybe some other people had responded to her e-mail and she wouldn't choose us anyways. But as we talked I realised that she was seriously thinking of placing him with us if we felt God leading us that way. I asked her to send a picture so that we could put a face with the name. We talked a little about the details... Anesu was in Zimbabwe living with her brother. His mother passed away last year and his father has never been in the picture.

We only talked for a few minutes but she promised she would send some pictures and would get her sister in Zimbabwe to find out how an adoption would work. We were hoping that it wouldn't be too complicated since Busi is the legal guardian and lives here in Canada. The hope was that she would be able to go over to Zimbabwe and get Anesu and then bring him back to Whitehorse. That way we can be looking after him while the adoption goes through (which can take a long time).

Later that evening she sent a picture of Anesu... I was in LOVE! He was so gorgeous.

Over the next couple months we talked almost every week. Busi was making so any phone calls and talking to proffesionals trying to figure out all the logistics. I felt so bad that she was doing all the work. Unfortunately because we live in the north our resources are limited. We don't even have an adoption agency here (there is only social services... who we did our homestudy with). Nothing would have happened if it wasn't for Busi's dedication. Every time I got off the phone with her I would thank God for what she was doing for us.

And so here we are with enough of the pieces together that we feel we can FINALLY let people know. Right now the plan is that Busi will leave for Zimbabwe the end of June. While there she will get all the paperwork done that is needed to get him to Canada. Hopefully that won't take too long (we are hoping between 2-3 weeks) and then she will fly him back here to Whitehorse. She will spend a few days with us as we get him adjusted and then fly home to Winnipeg. Over the next couple years we will work on getting him his citizenship and then legally adopt him.

Unfortunately, like everything in life, this all costs money... LOTS of money. We figure we are looking at $8,000-$9,000 for the whole thing. To some people that would seem like pocket change I'm sure, but for Jeff and I it seems pretty large. We don't want to go into debt because it will take FOREVER for us to pay off that kind of money and as well we don't want to start off our life with a child with a huge debt hanging over our heads. So, if you know of any way that we can raise some money to help bring Anesu home please let me know.

It's been such a weird feeling to think that we are going to be parents to this beautiful little boy in the pictures. Every time I look at him I feel like I'm dreaming. Is it really possible that God will give us such a gift? That he will entrust Anesu's happiness and well-being to us? And even more important trust us to raise him to love Christ? It just amazes me!

You know I feel sort of like I'm pregnant. I have all the anticipation of being a mom but still a little of the anxiety that it may not happen. Because this adoption is a little abnormal there is a chance that we may run into legal and immigration problems. My heartbreak from the past 6 years of riding the infertility rollarcoaster has made me very sceptical of anything good happening to us and I find myself wanting to hold back from telling people about Anesu because maybe it isn't going to happen... but I feel like God is telling me to trust. So it really is like being pregnant... you spend 9 months planning for the future, decorating a room, buying all the items you need but there is still a chance that something may happen and that child may never get to come home with you. Well I've decided that we will plan for the future, decorate a bedroom and buy all the items we will need and pray like all parents that we will get to bring our child home.

So you know what the best part is? No matter what happens God is in control. That has given me so much peace these last couple months. Even if the worse happens and we can't get our son I know that he is in God's hands and that in the end it will be okay. Would I be heartbroken? Of course... he's already my child. But God is so amazing that I know it would be okay. That peace can come from no one else... how awesome is that! :o)

Well I'm going to sign off... there is so much going on in my head right now that I just can't get it all written out. Hopefully over the next month and a half I will have time to tell more of the details and to explain my feelings as we prepare to become parents to a toddler. All I ask right now, as always, is for your prayers that everything will fall into place and we will have Anesu Matthew here with us very soon!

Shannon

Walk for Life

I did a speech today for Whitehorse's "Walk for Life". Thought maybe I should add it to the blog...


In 1969 a decision was made that has affected millions of lives. It was this year that Abortion became legal in Canada. Since that date millions of healthy, human beings have been lost at the hands of doctors in the name of “women’s rights” In 2005, the latest year on record, 96,815 abortions were performed on Canadian women. Since 1969 in Canada there have been just over 3 million abortions.

But so what? Those are just numbers… statistics. People would have you think that each of those numbers just represents a clump of cells, a non-living being… but I am here today to tell you that each of those numbers represents a life… a life that was never given the chance to see the light of day. Never given the chance to feel the love of a mothers embrace. Never given the chance to grow up and become all that they could have been. Each of those numbers represents a person, a soul that belonged to God and was loved by God.

Psalm 139 says “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

God has a plan even for the unborn child. He loves them, knows them, and cares for them. The biggest argument around abortion is whether a child in the womb is a person or not. We know from scripture that God believes he is. If you have ever seen an ultrasound of a tiny baby you will know that it is not just a clump of cells… it is a perfect, though somewhat alien looking, human being. Did you know that at 5 weeks the heart begins to beat? By 9 weeks fingerprints are already developed and a child is able to grasp and flex. By 11 weeks nearly all structures and organs are formed and beginning to function. So do you know of any other non-living thing has a heartbeat, arms, legs, eyes, muscles and essentially everything we as adults have? I know I don’t.

So we have all of this information… so what? To a pregnant woman who has found herself in a situation that may seem hopeless what does she do? It is easy for us to say don’t have an abortion, but in her shoes, what options does she have?

Well there are two options. Maybe she stays pregnant, gives birth to a beautiful baby and decides keep her child and raise them and love them and care for them. Or maybe she decides that she can’t give them the life she feels they deserve and so she places them for adoption. Both of these options are scary… they are not easy paths. And we have to understand that.

But Abortion isn’t easy either. Abortion may seem to some people to be the easy way out of a difficult situation, but it isn’t. Not only is it destroying and can I be so bold as to say murdering a human being, but there are risks to the women’s health as well. There are short term health risks, like bleeding and infection, long term risks like infertility and breast cancer, and as well risks for future pregnancy’s including premature births and ectopic pregnancy’s. But I think more than the physical risks, there are great psychological risks. Women who have had abortions are at a greater risk of suffering from anxiety, depression, drug-use, post-traumatic stress disorder just to name a few.

You know, it’s unfortunate that no matter what, a woman with an unwanted pregnancy will have to live with pain, in whatever form either physically or emotionally, no matter the choice she makes. It will not be an easy journey I am sure.

Now you may say, what do I know about the pain? I’ve never been in her shoes. I have never experienced an unwanted pregnancy. But I do know pain, because I have never experienced a WANTED pregnancy. My husband and I have tried for 6 years to start a family with no success. So I may not know the pain and suffering a woman who is considering abortion is going through. But I do know the pain of not being able to carry a child. And something else I know is that, that child is wanted and if not by the birth mom, then by someone else. There are thousands of people out there who would love that child. People like my husband and I who have gone through countless hours of paper work, courses and interviews so that we would be able and equipped to adopt a child.

Everyday that I hear of another Mom who has chosen to abort her baby I cry. I cry at the thought of that perfect child, helpless, without rights whose heart use to beat that didn’t know what was coming; a child that was brought into this world by no fault of their own. I cry when I think of the mom that will have to live with that decision for the rest of her life. I cry for the fathers that may not have wanted the child to be aborted, fathers who also have no rights when it comes to abortion. And, selfishly maybe, I think of people like us, who would do anything to have that child in our wombs, to protect them to love them and care for them.

I pray today that if you are pregnant and you are considering having an abortion please, just think about it a little longer. Do your research. Talk to someone you trust. Don’t go into such a life changing, a life ending decision without knowing all the facts.

And maybe today there is someone who has had an abortion. Maybe you are regretting that decision. Please know you are loved! God loves you, and we love you in Christ. And there is help out there for you. You will see on the signs today a number that you can call and receive guidance and help. As well, if you have a pastor feel free to talk with them. But the important thing is to talk to someone… find the emotional help you need.

I hope today that all of us here will understand the pain that is involved with abortions. That abortion is not a solution, but that the women who are faced with it may need our help, guidance and love. I pray that people will see, that Canada will see, that these tiny perfect lives are people who need protecting. Thank-you!