Why adopt an international kiddo?

One of the most interesting parts of going through this adoption process has been getting the chance to have conversations with people about it - especially when they first learn about what we're planning to do. Some people ask timelines, some about the cost, others about the age/gender of the kid, etc. One interesting question that I've gotten a couple of times recently that I've been thinking more about is "why would you go all the way to Rwanda to adopt?"

Basically, it comes down to the fact that we think there are kids in Rwanda that need families and we want to be a family for them (correction: one of them...don't give Adrianne any ideas about multiple kid adoptions). For some reason, in a marriage where how we fold t-shirts can be a point of contention, the decision to adopt was an easy one. We were completely on the same page that this would be a good thing for our family. We've both been able to see the poverty of the developing world several times and this is one way that we feel like our family can respond.

Others follow up, "but aren't there kids in the US who need homes?". To that, I answer "absolutely". There are way, way too many kids in this country and in the world who have to grow up outside of loving families. We feel like, as Christians, God has called us to care for orphans. For us, that care currently looks like international adoption, but there are SO many ways for people to engage (financial support for orphan care organizations, foster care, domestic adoption, volunteering at a domestic/international facility, etc.) . International adoption isn't a better or worse response than any of those, it's just the one that we felt like we were supposed to do.