Let's Just Do It!
For me, two things that mix well are football and adoption. Granted I am biased, as an adoptive dad and college football fan. But some of our previous posts – such as my story about my one and only football experience with my son really and the adoption storyof U. of Georgia coach Mark Richt - prove my point.
Here’s another good adoption story with a football angle. It details the adoption journey of U. of Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton and his family.
Mike and his wife Beth are very open about the role their faith played in the adoption of all five of their children – two adopted domestically, and most recently three siblings adopted from Ethiopia. Mike explains their adoption journey in the following way: “I can’t define it except to say it’s God-inspired. If you’re not a Christian, it might be tough to understand, but that’s where we are.”
In the article, Beth states, “Our first two adoptions were us trying to form our family with God’s guidance. These adoptions were about God giving us His heart.” Like me and my wife, infertility originally led the Hamiltons to adoption. But as with so many others (including us), God used their early adoption experiences as a gateway to further opportunities to both be a blessing and be blessed. Rather than pitting those two types of adoption experiences against one another, as if were one were more ‘right’ or ‘noble’ than the other, I love the way Beth explains how God was at work in each — just differently.
The article also goes on to deal with the question of why the Hamiltons chose international adoption and not domestic (for their most recent adoptions). Mike Hamilton responds: “There are 500,000 orphans in the U.S., 147 million in the world. The point I want to make is, these are kids God has placed in the world. We need to reach out and care for these kids. Let’s not talk about kids here or in Africa or Russia or wherever. Let’s just do it.”
Well said. Whether it’s adoption or foster care, whether it’s advocacy or prayer, whether it’s ‘here’ or ‘there,’ we have been given a great opportunity and a tremendous privilege to put love into action for the benefit of those who are close to the heart of God. In light of that, I think Mike’s right – let’s just do it.
