Orphan Awareness Month: Anna

Hello there. We are the crazy Morgans –  Jacob (the dad), Anna (the mom), Eric (the son), Walter (the Weimaraner), and Jubilee (the lab/spaniel).

Not pictured: Our son, Eric. We are still on our journey of getting our kiddo home.

This is our son. We are in the very last stages of adopting Eric, a 14-year-old (he just turned 14 on November 16th) boy from Belize. Our dream is to have him home by Christmas (PRAY!)!  If you would have told me growing up, at the age of 26 I would be adopting a teenage boy of Creole descent, planning to become a full-time missions consultant, and learning how to homeschool… I would have laughed in your face. But… God is a God of humor and higher plans, so here we are – a youth pastor and a Sign Language interpreter about to embark on the GREATEST adventures of our lives.

WARNING: Adoption is tough. It’s hard. It’s wonderful. It shows the amazing faithfulness of God, the blessing of community and friends/family, and power of prayer and transformation.

Just some background: Jacob and I have been best friends since middle school. We finally started dating when we started college and got married the week after my graduation from the University of Tennessee! We genuinely love life together… and with our doggies. Jacob and I have always wanted to adopt.  That was known before we got married.  I have even thought, and said, that we wouldn’t have biological children… that we would just adopt. I still believe that, but people say one day that will change… it may… we’ll see.

To understand our desire to adopt… you have to understand the beauty of SALVATION.  God first adopted us. We were orphans… lost, broken, and without hope. We once relied solely on ourselves, defended ourselves, and searched for satisfaction on our own.  God, in His GREAT mercy, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us so that we could be called God’s CHILDREN!!! He ADOPTED us into His eternal family.  We are no longer orphans, but heirs to the throne. This was not plan B to God… He planned to GIVE His Son as an offering on OUR behalf from the beginning… for our rescue… for our redemption. He saved us… not because of something we did, but because He is madly in love with us.  We are now children of God, and have the honor of calling Him our Abba Daddy.

Adoption is a beautiful outward picture of this. Adoption has not been our plan B – it is our preference. Adoption is living out the Gospel. (Don’t get me wrong here – This does not mean having biological children is not the Gospel AT ALL… this is just the story God has laid on OUR hearts.) We long to adopt – to show Christ’s love to orphans. To give them a forever family like God has given us. To love, without conditions, like Christ loves us.

Why Belize?

The hostesses of Eric’s Adoption/Eric’s 14th Birthday Party

It started summer 2012 at a Student Life camp with the youth.  Tony Merida was the camp pastor. Tony wrote Orphanology (READ IT!) and has adopted 5 children of his own.  He explains salvation using his experience with adoption. The night he preached about adoption… I was broken. My heart knew that was for us. So Jacob and I had conversations about adoption and decided it wasn’t the right time… so we waited.

A year later… back to Student Life camp this June. Within the year, we had talked a lot about adoption, had seen adoption around us, and spoke about it often.  Well… Tony was our camp pastor again… and gave a similar talk.  Broke me again… but in a different way. God was saying that the time was now. I looked at Jacob after the service and he said, “So… you ready?” MY HEART SCREAMED, “YES!”

But… we were busy planning for our mission trip to BELIZE – a country that was laid on our hearts about 10 months before when beginning the planning process.

We go. We meet a little boy named Eric at the orphanage and our lives are forever changed.

After spending time at the orphanage, Jacob (the logical, analytical, NOT whimsical – like me – thinker) looked at me and said, “We have to do something now.” Eric was 12 at the time and had lived in this orphanage since he was baby.  He had witnessed several of his friends be adopted… and he had stayed there without a family of his own.  He is the most beautiful little boy ever, but his words to Jacob were, “I just don’t think I’m wanted.”  Well… let me tell you people… HE IS DEFINITELY WANTED! That little 12 year old boy, Eric, was the catalyst for this whole adventure.  We couldn’t come back home and not do anything… so we started the process… sent the money and the paperwork and prayed for our ERIC! We had no clue how easy or hard it was going to be to request a specific child… we only knew to pray. So we did.

The miracles we have seen on this journey have been incredible.  The process was more than I could handle at times – the waiting, the wishing, and the wanting. To know our son was waiting on us to come and get him broke my heart. My heart and mind has been on an emotional rollercoaster.  Fear and unbelief have been huge issues that God is working on in me. BUT the learning, the growing, the praying, the relationships made, the support we felt, the miracles we experienced, and the faithfulness of God we saw through it all were more than worth it.  The fact that Eric will be with us soon is worth every tear, every fear, and every minute of waiting. To know that we will be his forever Mom and Dad and that he will be smothered with love by us, his family, and all of you is wonderful beyond words. Our Eric has brought more joy to us than anything else in the world… and he’s not even here yet. We hope to be the parents God has call us to be for our son – his name even shouts the amazing plans He has for our boy: Eric “forever” Emmanuel “God is with us” MORGAN.  

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Jacob and Anna are our co-workers at PPM. They are young, passionate about Christ and some of the friendliest folks you’ll ever meet. Anna, thank you for sharing your story and your heart. What truth you present to us, that we are all ultimately orphans, until Christ found us and took us in.

Follow along with them on their Blog and support them financially here: Support Page.

Remember to join in with us this November and donate to one of our causes, then comment below and let us know.

Get Involved

• In Haiti – please give to Life is Hope orphanage through our website at prayingpelicanmissions.org for uniforms. The children are in need of uniforms to go to school. Without these uniforms, the school cannot proceed as planned and be seen as legitimate by the Haitian government.

• In America – would you consider donating to Jacob and Anna? They are two of our newest PPM co-workers, and are in the final stages of bringing home their son from Belize. Not only are they adopting, they have just stepped out in faith and taken positions as Missions Coordinators, meaning they must fundraise the majority of their salary as a family. You can visit their support page to make a donation toward their adoption.

• In Arkansas – we want to support a local Christian foster care organization: The CALL. As a response to the lack of foster and respite care homes for the over 7000 foster children in Arkansas,  The CALL exists to educate, equip, and encourage Christian families to meet the needs of these foster children. to help fund this awesome ministry you can send a check to us, or donate online on The CALL’s website.

-Bethany