There is a need....

I promised to tell the story of how God encouraged me in my calling to adoption on a particularly rough day.

For some odd reason, the owner of our office building has decided it needs to be tangerine orange...makes us easier to find, but not so sure what it does for the professional image...anyway, there is a guy there painting the building.

He came in Tuesday afternoon and asked me to move my van as he was about to paint right there and didn't want to get orange paint on my sliver van (thank you Mr. painter man!). So I gladly moved it.

When I was heading back into the office, he asked me what kind of business I was running. Since we are only international right now, not many people come to the office. Mainly, I needed the office out of the house as we needed the boundaries that provided. It has been a HUGE blessing...but because we don't really have families coming by the office that much, it hasn't totally been put together yet. We don't have a sign up or anything like that yet. Those things cost money, and, well, you know the rest of that story! I proceeded to tell this man that we run an adoption agency. He then says, "Well too bad you weren't here a few months ago, I would have had three kids for ya." That got my attention....I took the bait. Five months ago this man placed his triplets that he had with "his fling" *his words, NOT mine!* for adoption with a family in a near by town. He proceeded to tell me how their mom didn't want them and he already has 7 kids that he is taking care of. I talked to him just a bit about my boys and how adoption is such a wonderful thing, and then went inside my office, not really thinking that much about it. Well, not true...ashamedly, I admit, I was really just thinking I need to get a, b, and c finished today. Not really getting what I think God was trying to show me. So, as God often does with me, he hit me one more time! Mr. Painter Man came back into the office and said, "So you guys are open for business." I proceeded to give way more of an explanation than I am sure he cared to have about our licensing situation. Then he said, "Well, I have this friend in my class at college who is 3 months pregnant and doesn't want the baby. I was talking to her about my kids that I put up for adoption, and she is considering it." Ok, God, I am getting it now!

So I give him my card and tell him to have his friend call me. I told him that we would be licensed in the next few weeks and could help his friend out if she decided that she wanted to place...or if I wasn't able to help her, I knew plenty of people who could.

When he walked out the door, I was flooded with God's presence over me. I just sensed Him saying, "See, HollyAnn, the work you do is needed. People are hurting and need my hand to touch them. Children are coming into the world that need homes other than the ones they will be born into. There are other things in this work that I have for you besides just the frustrations of Liberia." Oh how sweet that was to me! It reminded me just how personal my amazing Heavenly Father is! He took the time to place a man right in my path who knew someone who needed what I could give. God used it to remind me that in this area, there is no one to truly minister to birth or really adoptive families on a personal level the way I believe it should be.

Just two hours before, John had stopped by and I was on a bad phone call. When I got off, I cried and questioned, and said the words I try not to say these days, "I just don't know what I am supposed to do anymore and I want to quit." I know quitting is not an option...well, at least not if I want to run this race in the way I need to in order to win the prize and to see God's glory in "the land of the living"! Then God graciously placed this man in my path to remind me of the needs and the harvest that is ripe for God's people to take His love to a very wounded and bleeding group of people! So I put on my armor again (had put it on that morning, but it felt like it had fallen off in battle!) and sat down at my computer with a renewed resolve to serve the awesome God who has called me to this work called adoption!