Ethiopia: The Bosworth Family

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The Bosworth Family

In August 2007, God led us to another "adventure" in our life. We were your typical suburban family with four young children but that was about to change. In July, we received an email about the Ethiopian adoption program through Christian World Adoption. We've always known we would adopt someday but didn't know when. We always assumed we would adopt a small child from Asia or Latin America. I was surprised when I read the email and felt overwhelmingly that we were supposed to pursue Ethiopia. Due to finances, Kurt was not convinced that this was the right timing but agreed to meet with CWA reps. As it turned out, we had many ties with the couple we met with and when we left that night, Kurt also knew that we were to take a step of faith and pursue it now.

We requested access to a photo list of waiting children and again we were shocked when we both were drawn to a preteen girl. After prayer, we felt certain that we were to pursue her. I have to admit that it is overwhelming to look at pages and pages of children and think that you are supposed to "pick" one from their picture. There's something not morally right about that. We were so grateful that God made the decision easy for us. It amazes me that as I read other families' stories, it is often that way. God directs you to the one hand picked for you (even if it's not what you ever pictured!)

As far as the finances go... we had no money for any of this! God laid it on several people's hearts to help us financially. We were able to apply August 2 and then had our first payment to the agency September 17. Our sweet daughter, Koryn, wanted to help raise money. She was so excited about bringing a sister home. She went to her room and got things together to sell to her friends. Some were broken toys, books and pictures she colored. We tried to explain to her that if she wanted to help, we needed to find a couple of things to make that she could sell. We decided on decorated notebooks and beaded bookmarks. We had such a high demand that our whole family needed to work to catch up! My sister in law ordered 800 bookmarks for a function she was in charge of. Amazingly, we made over $1800 on this project—much needed money for various expenses. God continued to provide the money as it was needed through fundraisers, family, friends and a grant from Sheohannah’s Hope. It was a miracle that God brought all the money needed in less than 8 months!

As time passed and the adoption progressed, God continued to allow me to be broken hearted about the orphans of this world. Up until recently, it was a problem that I couldn't grasp and didn't think it affected me. We knew we wanted to adopt but I think it was on a much more superficial level. Yes, we could help a child and bring them into our family. The despair and need of the orphans around this world have only recently begun to really sink in (as much as it can sitting in my suburban home). I cried for days. I felt such an intense frustration about not being able to do more. I realized I have a faith issue. I've had no problem trusting God with my family's future with regards to our adoption but I had a HUGE faith issue with trusting Him with all these orphans. "I" wanted to do it all... "I" wanted to adopt them and "I" wanted to convince everyone I know to adopt them! "I" wanted to fix the problem and I knew I couldn’t!

The day our dossier was being sent to Ethiopia, we received an email from our agency saying, “We just received a new referral for a 3-4 year old boy, would you be interested?” I KNEW this was God and as soon as I saw the picture, I KNEW that was our son. He was an AIDS orphan and his eyes would steal your heart. We were able to add his referral to our daughter’s and they processed the two together. Our family and friends officially thought we were crazy!

Amazingly, just 6 weeks later, they were both legally ours! On April 2 we flew to Ethiopia for our April 8 Embassy date. The kids were awesome and we had a great week of bonding in Ethiopia. We were anxious to get home and join our four anxiously awaiting children. I was nervous about how everyone would bond and who would struggle with jealousy. Our fears were calmed as we saw how great they all got along. We now had a family with a 12 year old, 7 yr old, twin 5 yr olds, 4 yr old and 2 year old. “That’s a handful!” (as everyone likes to say).

Our 12 year-old, Senite, has done so well. It’s hard for any 12 year-old, much more for one that has left her family, culture and language to live in a strange place with strange people. It is much more challenging to parent her, especially since this is our first time to parent a preteen. We deal with many of the same issues every parent deals with: testing, clothes, independence, attitude, and food. We just deal with it in three word sentences like, “You– no pout!” The language has been a huge barrier for us since she’s at the age where she wants to understand “why” and yet she can’t understand the explanations. I long for the day when we can have a normal conversation with her and know she understands what we are saying. I know she longs for that too.

Kaleb, our new 4 year-old, is such a fun little guy. He could not be easier! They told us in Ethiopia that he was VERY shy and quiet. He's a different boy now! He loves to pull pranks and has developed this very LOUD and goofy laugh. He sings songs in English many times throughout the day. He gets along great with the other kids and is easy going. He and our 5 yr old son, Bryce, are awesome together. They play for hours without fighting. I have seen such a difference in Bryce’s confidence now that he has a brother to play with. All of our concerns about him being jealous were for nothing.

Some days are harder than others. It’s definitely not easy but I don't regret anything. God has called us to this amazing journey and we trust Him with the future. He has called us to these 2 children and I know He is using this as part of His special plan for all 6 of our kids. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

— Kurt & Kayla Bosworth