Moms of ABQ :: We Said Yes (Christy-Part 1)

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“I’ve always known I have a calling.”

And everyone thought I was crazy.

As a young mid/high-schooler, I’d been drawn to people who are different. There was a young man in our church who had Down Syndrome and . . . I just couldn’t help but want to be around him. I couldn’t imagine exactly how, but I believed that God was going to make people like him a part of my life’s story. My prayer to Him was: whatever you call me to, however you call me to it, my answer is “yes.”

WE said yes!

When my husband and I were dating, I told him what I knew about my future calling. I told him I’ve always known I wanted to be a mom to lots of kids as well. So when we got married, we immediately started trying to have kids. We struggled for three years with unexplained infertility. We tried everything, spent all the money, and were disappointed over and over. Miraculously, we did finally conceive our oldest son. After his birth, we started trying right away for another. Once again, infertility plagued us. For five years, we again tried EVERYTHING to no avail.

And then the diagnosis came.

My husband, nearly 30, was diagnosed with cancer. He underwent surgery and other treatments and was, of course, quite sick. A few months after his initial diagnosis, I was feeling quite rundown and ill as well. I thought I was just tired from all we had going on at the time, but something made me decide to take a pregnancy test. What do you know . . . it was positive! This pregnancy was such a gift during that very difficult time.

Shortly after the birth of our second child, we happily received our third. When she started getting big, we began discussing adoption.

We never intended to adopt internationally.

But that’s the way it worked out.

Through a friend of a friend, we heard about a little Ethiopian boy with Down Syndrome who was close to being moved to an institution. In many countries, there is just nothing for children, or adults for that matter, with disabilities.

This wasn’t the plan. We didn’t have $40,000. But we knew we wanted Endale in our family.

We faced facts: our lives would change forever. There would be no empty nest, no retirement plans for traveling the world without kids. He would have to live with us forever.

We said “Yes.”

Christy: We Said Yes

We embarked upon our first “paperwork pregnancy” with Endale. Immigration paperwork, home study paperwork, grant writing, medical information . . . it amounts to a part-time job.

Then came the money issue. My husband is a pastor, and I am a stay-at-home mom. Needless to say, we didn’t have $40,000 lying around! We had $500 cash in a drawer that we’d accumulated over time. This was a “fun money” stash that we thought we’d build and use to go to Disneyland. The first step toward adopting Endale was to complete a home study. On our first phone call with the home study organization, the representative told us that we’d need to put $500 down before they began the process.

So we grabbed the cash and booked the appointment.

We sold things, held fundraisers, filled out 21 grant applications, held garage sales, bake sales, and silent auctions. In the end, God provided all we needed, and we traveled to Ethiopia to bring Endale home.

Christy: We Said Yes

We quickly recognized how Endale changed everyone he met.

He’s just such a light. Everyone from our family members to friends at church to people out in our community was affected by him in such a positive way. We saw people become more comfortable with interacting with him and hoped that it would give them courage to interact more with people with disabilities. Additionally, Endale grew by leaps and bounds in every way.

Endale today!

We are SO glad we said yes to Endale. Check out our video about our journey with Endale here.

We were so inspired by the light he brought, by his joy, his growth, and the growth he created in others, that we sat down with our kids to discuss bringing home another little one.

Our biological kids had been 6, 8, and 13 when we brought Endale home. We’d watched them change too, of course. They’d grown in so many beautiful ways, but we wondered what they would think about adding another child to our family.

They ALL replied with an immediate “YES.”

Make sure to check back tomorrow to read Part 2 of Christy’s story.



The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ABQ Mom, its executive team, other contributors to the site, its sponsors or partners, or any organizations the aforementioned might be affiliated with.