How did we get here?
When Eve and I were first married, we were just trying to be together. She lived in Toronto and was a British citizen and I lived in Atlanta. We wondered if I should move to Canada and take a job there…
We originally met when we were kids in Oakville, Ontario. My family had moved there for Dad’s job. Of course, Eve and I had no idea that someday we’d marry. We barely noticed each other! But life has a sense of humor.
Years passed. I’d moved to Atlanta with my family and Eve had graduated from Law School. After my brother’s wedding, I sent an email to Eve. We talked for fourteen hours that first day and were married a few months later.
Life has been a whirlwind ever since. Eve emigrated to the US after we lived apart for a year, separated by distance and immigrations laws. It took 5-1/2 years for her to become a naturalized citizen.
In November of 2006, Josephine was born. We didn’t sleep for months, since she had severe colic. In the meantime, I took a job in Birmingham, AL and our little family moved away from my parents, brother and sister in Atlanta. It was a challenging and stressful time for us.
Josephine
We moved again. This time to Charleston, SC where we found Seacoast Church. Here our Christianity was challenged and we had a period of rapid spiritual growth. We realized that we’d been complacent and perhaps even absent. That summer, we were baptized together in the Atlantic ocean.
A year passed and I was asked to relocate to Birmingham again. After much prayer and thought, we decided to go, despite our first foray being very negative. The second stint in Birmingham was great. We found a good home, had welcoming neighbors, a church and preschool, and I joined a local woodworking and blacksmith guild.
Sebastien
Sebastien was born in Birmingham in December of 2009.
After almost two years, we felt it was time to move back to Atlanta, where family would be close by. We learned that Mom had Parkinson’s disease and knew it was indeed time. Soon I took another position based out of Atlanta and we relocated for the fourth time.
The new role was a change for me as I traveled a lot more. We adjusted to being around family again–Hey! We weren’t used to it!
Not long after moving I was on a business trip to North Carolina when, on the drive home from the airport, I was struck with the notion that we should consider adoption. We’d talked about it once early on in our marriage, when we heard about a little Taiwanese girl who had been suddenly orphaned. But I didn’t know how Eve felt on the issue now. I wasn’t sure how I felt, to be honest!
Eve & Jo
So one evening I asked Eve what she thought about adopting a child. She was astonished because she’d had the thought ever since Seb’s birth but just hadn’t said anything to me. She had even contacted friends of hers who had adopted, but had filed the thought away. So we had both separately felt the tugging on our hearts. But what now?
This is the beginning of our trek down our path to adopt. And as God unveils the path, we follow. Old Oak Press chronicles this adventure.
Jordan, Jo & Seb
