A Journey to Save a Life: Part One The Beginning
In my two previous blog posts, I spoke of our Lenten Journey and how I feel that each one of us has a purpose to our existence. Perhaps you have come to feel the same as I do. I know from a personal standpoint, I spent the better part of my life debating with my inner self as to how involved God gets in our day-to-day activities. After all, there are a lot of us walking around this planet…on the surface it seems too overwhelming a task, even for God.
Based on past experiences, I no longer feel that way. I thought I would share with you some events in my life, and maybe you will come to feel that God has a plan for even those of us who aren’t the movers and the shakers of this world. We don’t run a country, or a corporation. We aren’t famous…we can walk down the street in complete anonymity…and yet, our existence is important to God.
Each of us has the power to change a life. Caught up in our daily existence, we come to believe that we aren’t important, but that simply isn’t true. Jesus knew that He was only going to be with us in the flesh for just a short period of time, that’s why He empowered ordinary men to be His Disciples. That solicitation for help in carrying out Christ’s mission continues on with us. Each of us has the power to be a force for good here on Earth.
Back in the early 1980’s I decided that I would convert to Catholicism. My wife was Catholic, and my two boys were being raised Catholic…so I thought it might be a good idea if I became more involved in my family’s faith. It was a yearlong process for my conversion, and I must confess it was one of the most religious periods of my life.
It was during this period that my wife and I decided to adopt. Looking back at this period in my life from the perspective of three decades, I don’t think our decision to adopt and my conversion were random, unconnected events. I think they were a part of God’s plan for me. At some point in our lives, I believe that God says to each of us…"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19.
My eyes, and that of my wife’s, were opened up to the world around us on a trip to Cancun in 1980. Prior to that trip, we only knew the world through the relative comfort here in the United States. Seeing firsthand the overwhelming poverty some must endure by virtue of where they are born, changed us forever.
A few years later, my wife and I would be sitting in our living room watching the Sunday morning news… killing time prior to gathering the boys and heading off to Mass. A news story came on telling of the plight of children made orphans from the civil war raging in El Salvador. Without looking at each other, we both said at the same time, “Let’s adopt a little girl from El Salvador!”
My wife, after having the two boys, was not able to have any more children. We had explored local adoption agencies, but were told that we couldn’t even get on a waiting list, since we had two children already. We thought our dreams of expanding our family had died…until that Sunday morning when God told us of His plan for us. What happened next defies logic.
When my wife and I had both blurted out simultaneously about adopting, we had startled ourselves. I remember there being an uncomfortable vibe in the room…but after having watched the news, instead of being ahead of schedule, we now had to get the boys in the car and hustle to make it to Mass on time. That adoption comment was soon swallowed up by our busy schedules…until God had a drapery installer pay us a visit!
Two weeks later we were having new drapes installed in our family room. The installer was busy putting up the new rods when he asked my wife if he could sit for a minute to watch the Phil Donahue Show. Phil’s show that day dealt with the Cabbage Patch Doll controversy. If you can remember back that far, when the dolls came on the market, they came with “adoption” papers. Adoption advocates where upset and thought the doll’s marketing campaign trivialized the adoption process.
My wife asked the installer why he was so interested in the program. He said that he and his wife had just adopted a little boy so the whole topic of adoption was of interest.
Anyone care to guess from which country this man and his wife adopted their son? Yes, you are right…they had just come back from El Salvador.
So began our journey to save a life…
To be continued
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