Is God Calling?

I've never been a devout American Idol watcher. From time to time I'll tune in at the end of the season because let's face it, that's when the singing actually gets good. For whatever reason, I've found myself tuning in earlier this season - watching some of the auditions, part of Hollywood Week, and the results show last night. But it wasn't the singing, Ryan Seacrest's dramatic way of announcing who was safe and going home, or even Ellen's random "I know nothing about music" comments that caught my attention last night - it was Kris Allen's performance and video highlights from his recent trip to Haiti.

I tuned into the news coverage at the time of earthquake in January, donated to the Red Cross, and read email after email about ways to help the Haitan people overcome this terrible tragedy. But last night, I saw image after image of sweet Haitan children, most of whom are likely orphaned, lost, or even abandoned. Then this morning I opened my email to find an update from the Christian Alliance for Orphans talking about new legislature being introduced to allow those Haitian orphans eligible for adoption prior to the earthquake but not yet matched with an adoptive family to be able to be adopted. Right now, the country is only allowing those orphans who were already matched with an adoptive family prior to the earthquake leave the country. Oh the thoughts starting rolling and the heart starting stirring. But what about the thousands of other children who were already orphaned prior to the earthquake? Who may have been days, weeks, or months away from being matched with a family? Or what about all those children who, as a result of the earthquake, are now orphaned? Are they not deserving of a family, a home, someone to love them?

I have a huge heart for orphans and adoption - if you've ever met me you know that. If you've ever read this blog, you know that. I've had the privilege of loving on sweet sweet orphans in Africa and having my eyes opened to their needs for families and love like any other children in the world. It's true that I have a heart for ALL orphans - those in the U.S. foster system and those around the world - but I've always seen us adopting from Africa. I think it's the connection I have to that beautiful continent... I want to bring a piece of that home, to my life, forever. But after reading about the Haitian Orphan Placement Adoption Act (or HOPE Act), seeing the images of Haitian orphans longing for families, reading the stories of families who have brought their children home from Haiti...I think God may be calling me further, expanding my heart to be open to adopting from other places than Africa.

Last night as Kris Allen sang and those images rolled across the television screen, I looked at Dave and I told him that if the government decides to let orphans leave Haiti, I wanted to adopt one. That I wanted to encourage others to consider adopting a Haitain orphan. He probably was thinking, "I'm not surprised" (He shouldn't be). Or he probably was thinking, "I've agreed to adopting one child, from Africa. She does remember that, right?" (Yes, I remember, but I'm still praying God opens his heart even further). He probably thought that most of the orphans would be toddlers or schoolaged and that certainly wasn't in our plan (I thought that too at first). But God's calling. He's stiring my heart and asking me to care for ALL orphans, to be open to adopting ANY orphan in need. That's one call that I'm not sure I can ignore.

So, will we be adopting a Hatiain orphan? Maybe. Maybe not. Will I be asking my Congressmen to support the HOPE Act? Yes. Will I be encouraging those open to adoption to consider Haiti? Yes. Will I continue to open the eyes and hearts of others to the world's orphan crisis? Yes.

So thank you American Idol to opening my heart a little further and reminding me of God's calling in my own life.