August, 1972.

The phone rang insistently.

The young wife answered it. She and her husband had just returned from their usual Sunday afternoon walk with their dog, Duffy. They were two weeks away from a medical mission trip to Nigeria and Kenya.

He was a medical student and she, a microbiologist. Their vaccinations complete, funds raised and bags half packed, their trip was a foregone conclusion.

But. God.

“Hey, how are you?” The wife instantly recognized the caller.

They caught up for a minute when he said, “How would you like a baby?”

“When is the baby due?” She said, lifting her eyebrows at her husband as he walked in the back door with the dog. They’d traveled this weary road before. Still, her heart fluttered. A baby.

“She is here,” he said.

“Really?”

“Really!”

Adoption is astounding, isn’t it? I still can’t believe this is my story. I still can’t believe that a 17-year-old girl would endure 40 weeks of mockery, humiliation and scorn just for me.

I get butterflies when I think about my parents, Doug and Barbara Dickinson, who said yes to me before they even knew me. The compassion and mercy they extended to me and to my adopted brother and sister blows my mind. The trouble they walked through in pursuit of us is astonishing.

Listen, adoption isn’t a panacea. It’s the fracturing of one relationship and the genesis of another. Yet it’s the incredible earthly picture God uses to teach each of us about our own admission into His family.

Jesus went through the worst kind of trouble—death on the cross—to bear our sins, making a way for us to become adopted into His family.

You know how I learned this? On a sunny, August day, my parents said yes to God.

I don’t know if you’re considering adoption, are knee deep in the process or if it’s the farthest thing from your mind. I can tell you no matter what, God led me to my family. He’ll get you to yours.

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too difficult for Me?” Jeremiah 32:27, AMP

Amie Beth is married to Dr. Chris Shaver. They have 4 children, Emmy, 16, Wesley Kate, 14, Will, 12, and Molly, 8. Together they enjoy going on mission trips. For more information about how we as a faith family are caring for orphans and how you can be a part, visit brookhills.org/carefororphans.