Someone recently said to me, “I so admire what you and your husband are doing by adopting all these boys.”
Please do not admire me. It is neither me, nor my husband, who has any reason to be admired. Five years ago, we both had far different plans for the rest of our lives. Our son was in the middle of his senior year and the day we had been waiting for for 22 years was fast approaching. We were going to retire in Florida and spend the rest of our years doing exactly what we had not done in our early twenties. We had our children early and so we were not out doing what we wanted to do, we were raising and supporting children and broke most of the time. We ached for the day they were out of the house and our lives would finally be about us. We’d buy whatever we wanted, go wherever we wanted, do whatever we wanted.
I promised you the truth… some days I still ache for that day, especially when the parenting road gets difficult.
But God wooed us and we fell in love with Him and we changed.
“I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20
Our adoptions (both of them) have been about obedience to the Lord’s call and hoping to bring glory to His name, not our own.
Admire God, for it is to Him that we direct all the glory!
Natalie Ames 
I never like it when people ask me,Which are your real kids and which ones did you adopt.They are all mine hook line and sinker.