Elias' Adoption Story

Chase and I adopted Elias from Ethiopia in May 2006. We befriended several Ethiopian families through my job working with refugees and had become very fond of the Ethiopian people, culture, and food. When we learned of the orphan crisis in Ethiopia, Chase and I immediately felt God was leading us to adopt. As we prayed through this decision, we felt very strongly that God wanted us to adopt an amputee child as my husband, Chase, is a Prosthetist.

Our adoption agency (http://www.adoptionadvocates.org) did not have any children in their care with missing limbs or in need of an amputation, so we anticipated waiting for at least 6 months before receiving a referral for a healthy infant. However, just four days after our paperwork was sent to Ethiopia, our agency director sent an email to say that they had just recieved a little 13 month old boy into the orphanage who had a leg deformity that would require an amputation. The reality of going through an amputation with a child was hard to think about. But we knew that God had chosen this boy for our family. And now we can't imagine our lives without him!

The last several months have been the very best of our lives. It is an honor to be the Mom and Dad of Elias. He is sweet, sensitive, snuggly, fun-loving, loud, and all boy! He loves trucks and tractors. And he likes books too... as long as they're about trucks and tractors. :-)