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The Lehr Family Adoption Story
Although my husband and I might have never chosen adoption as our first means of having children, we have been so blessed that God has led us on His path - which is much higher than our own. We tried to conceive a child for over 3 years and could not do so, unexplainably in medical terms. That was a special and very difficult time where we spent much time in prayer and clinging to the many promises found in God’s Word. It was out of that difficulty that God began to redirect our thoughts. We were a family of two desiring to share our love with a child, and we soon became aware of the many children in the world who have been orphaned and abandoned. We began discussing the idea of adoption and became excited at the possibilities.
In January 2006 we began to seek out other adoptive families and find information on various agencies. By August of the same year, we felt a clear leading toward international adoption, and we then narrowed our search to agencies that worked abroad. After reading the story of another CWA family in our university’s alumni magazine, we became very interested in CWA. We found CWA’s website very helpful, and we loved the idea of the planner which would guide us through each step with checklists and instructions.
In November 2006, after much prayer, we submitted our initial application to CWA online. From that moment on we were not alone in our journey. CWA took our hands and guided us the whole way. We spent many long nights filling out paper work and many afternoons on the phone or at appointments. Truthfully, I can hardly recall all of that now, and I can honestly say that it was well worth it. We received a referral in February 2007, and after accepting, we brought our 14 month old son, Matthew Marat, home in July 2007. Between March and July we got to know our son a bit through the DVDs and photos that CWA sent us. July 9, 2007 was our very first day together, and I’ll never forget how when we got back to the hotel, Matthew would look at me, look at Tim, and then look back at me … and just smile. What a smile!! He seemed as grateful to find us as we were to be united with him. Praise God!!
Spending time in Kyrgyzstan was a wonderful way for us to get to know a bit of our son’s birth country and culture. We really enjoyed shopping, seeing the people, and especially the mountains. We were also able to spend time in Kazakhstan, and we had such fun exploring mountains and cathedrals. Matthew proved to be quite an adventurer right from the start – we even took him up a summer scenery ski lift ride in the mountains at Chimbulak. It was all so beautiful!!!
Matthew means “gift of God” and we couldn’t find a name more appropriate if we spent the rest of our life searching. Another special memory from our trip was when I was awakened one sleepy morning in our hotel in Kazakhstan to happy sounds coming out of Matthew’s crib, which was right next to our bed. I opened my eyes, smiled and moved over so that my hand could just barely reach the outside of his crib. He giggled, rolled over, and reached through the bars to take hold of my out-stretched finger. I couldn’t help but think, “Yep, sweetie, this is a picture of your new life. No more walking through life alone. You’ll always have a hand to hold now.” We praise God daily for uniting these broken pieces to make us a family of three!
I can’t say enough about how helpful all of the CWA workers are! They not only care about being very accurate in their work, but they are also so excited to see your family united. We worked most closely with Anya, Michael, and of course Galia! They were all wonderful!! And we can’t thank them enough for helping to bring our family together!
Tim, Kim, & Matthew Lehr
CWA Board Member Profile:
Jim Kirkland
 Jim Kirkland works as the General Manager for Blue Ridge Broadcasting in Black Mountain, NC, whose chief station is 106.9 The Light WMIT. He has been married to Janet for 15 years, and they have two daughters, Anna (7) and Lucy (4), both adopted from China.
Jim has worked in radio all of his life. “I’m blessed to have the opportunity to spend my career doing something I love very deeply,” says Jim. Jim feels the most important aspect of his work is having the opportunity to use his career as a ministry and use radio as the conduit for sharing Christ. Jim’s interest in radio began at an early age. He explains that he had been enamored with radio since childhood, and he began his experience in the industry as a sophomore in high school. He was raised in Memphis, TN, where he worked in radio until he was 26. Since then he has worked with stations in Richmond, VA, Greenville, SC, and Greensboro, NC, working in a variety of formats. In 2001, God opened the door for Jim to become the Director of Operations at Blue Ridge Broadcasting, and he became the General Manager in 2005.
The decision to adopt was an easy one for Jim and his wife, Janet. The Kirkland’s did not start planning their family until several years into their marriage. Jim explains that almost as a passing thought, they decided that they would adopt if Janet were not pregnant by a certain age. When a pregnancy did not occur, even though they did not know any family or friends who had adopted, “by then, we felt it was clearly God’s intent for us to adopt,” explains Jim. They began with a clean slate as to where God would lead them in their adoption process. Once they saw some materials on the China program, they prayed, and it became clear that God was leading them to adopt from China. Jim says, “it was an amazingly simple decision.”
They were led to CWA through Janet’s in-depth research. They were impressed with what they saw and heard about CWA from the staff and other families. Jim explains, “CWA stood a few notches higher in our research in terms of earnest commitment to children and families.”
When asked to share a tidbit from his own adoption stories, Jim said, “The process is not difficult, the challenge is that it can be long.” The Kirkland’s were taught patience and perseverance throughout the process. “At the end of the day, we received the child God intended us to have at the very start of the process,” says Jim. “If you are called to this process, and called to a child in a particular country, God’s plan is in the process. You can take a lot of rest in that.”
Jim joined the CWA Board in 2005. He was very honored to be asked to join, and his work on the board has allowed him to share his passion for adoption. One of the things that excites Jim the most about working with CWA is to see the vivid transformation of children who come from nearly hopeless situations and come into loving families in a country where they have opportunities. “And most importantly,” Jim says, “they have an opportunity to learn about their Savior. That energizes me like nothing else.”
Adoption has changed Jim’s life in profound ways, and he is sharing that with others through his work with CWA. He says, “The process of adoption not only changes your life from an aspect of bringing children into your family, it truly changes your heart from that point forward.” Jim’s global perspective has changed as a result of his own adoption experiences. He explains that his sensitivity to others’ struggles and his awareness of the bounty of blessings we have here in the US has become very pronounced. Due to what he saw of life in China, and comparing that to what his daughters have here, has even changed his opinions about the organizations in which he chooses to work or support.
Jim says of his work with CWA and adoptions, “Janet and I have seen first hand the miracle of families being created through adoption. To be a part of advocating for that, helping facilitate that, and speaking into the processes that make that possible is profoundly rewarding. I cannot imagine not wanting to be more deeply involved with adoptions after having been involved yourself.” |
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