What 4 yr old Anton Says about Adoption

My {out of the blue} conversation with Anton in the car this morning:

Anton: Mommy, I want to have 10 sisters and 10 brothers.

Me: Really? That's a lot.

Anton: Yep. I want them to look like Imani.

Me: You mean you want them to all be girls?

Anton: No, I want them to have the same skin as Imani. She is pretty.

Me: She sure is pretty. So you want 10 brothers and 10 sisters. Do you want these kids to come from my tummy?

Anton: No...I want them to be from different countries. Kids that don't have moms and dads.

Me: Do you like that Imani and Ezekiel are in our family now?

Anton: {rolling his eyes} Yes mom. That's why I said I want more brothers and sisters. We need more.

{a few weeks after ezekiel came home. the 3 of them were instant buddies}

{anton LOVES to help take care of imani}

{she adores him just as much}

{many nights anton gets upset because we won't let imani sleep in bed with him}

{the 3 boys share a room & until school started this fall, were completely inseparable} 

Isn't it interesting that when Ben and I were praying about adoption, specifically if we should go out of our birth order and adopt Ezekiel {age 6}, we received NOTHING but negative advice? We heard, "You will completely destroy your family",  "Your firstborn needs to remain the firstborn", "You're so naive and have no idea what you're getting into".

But we KNEW without a shadow of doubt {well, a healthy amount of doubt} that God called us to do something out of our comfort zone and adopt Ezekiel.

Anton {& Laith too} absolutely love and adore their older brother and are such loving helpers with baby Imani.

Our situation may not be for everyone, we're all called for different things.  But it's so amazing to see that the Lord has softened our children's hearts to be inviting and inclusive.

What a big God we have. Yet not so big that he can't take the time to whisper to the heart of my 4 year old little boy and give him a bigger world-view than he could possibly have on his own.