I'm no hero

I feel almost a bit funny writing this post. Like I'm going to be stepping on people's toes or something. This isn't meant to be critical or a rebuttal but to gently clarify.

A common misconception with adopting parents is that they're out to 'save' a child. I guess in some ways it can be looked at this way - the children are being 'saved' from living a life in an orphanage (some are really not that bad and others are worse) and instead are given a home with a loving family and with endless life possibilities.

But adoptive parents don't adopt to be a 'hero'. If we were out to simply 'save' a child (or children), our efforts would be most wisely spent funding medical programs, orphanages, schools, or missionaries. All of those could reach far more children with our dollars than it costs to bring home one child into an adoptive family; and at the same time potentially 'saving' a huge number of children from whatever ailed them. It is something I do think of when I sit back and reflect on the expense of the whole adoption process. Really, how many more children could I reach?

In my heart though, I do believe that there is a child out there who belongs in our family. One that has been chosen for us under God's all-knowing guidance. Instead of being 'saved', she will become part of our forever family, where I can simply be her mom.