The Ripple Effect

Adoption touches not just our lives but the lives of all of those around us. We struggled for over a year with what country we would adopt from. We considered many countries before settling on Ethiopia. It was important for us to adopt from a country whose culture we wanted to learn more about and embrace, as we want our child to have a connection to his birth culture. We are ready to embrace their culture and help our child know where they are from.

But not only has it affected us but it affects my entire family. My baby brother, who has become quite the globe trekker--he climbed Kilimanjaro last year and just returned from 35 days in Nepal where he trekked up to Everest base camp--has decided he wants to volunteer in Ethiopia. He has contacted our adoption agency to see if there are any possible openings for volunteers in July. He has limited time off and really wants to do something humanitarian. It never ceases to amaze me how one persons choices can spurn others to do something special. I hope our choice to adopt will spurn others to action.