When Your Daughters Are on the Other Side of the Ocean…

If you’ve been a long-time reader of these emails, you know about how we’ve formed our family thus far.
[And a side note — do YOUR clients and prospects know your personal stories? It’s one of the foundational principles for what we do … to help you create the kind of true bond with your contacts, which only comes from sharing authentically from your heart — and yes, that means YOU … even if you don’t think you have anything worth sharing. I digress, but you should also know that this isn’t some kind of cynical ploy on my part (nor would it be, on yours) … I *want* you to know the “man behind the curtain” , and the heart behind what we do here at BuildaHerd!]
Almost exactly two years ago, we brought home two little Ethiopian cherubs, and they’ve been a greater blessing than we ever could have imagined.
Well, in September of last year, God stirred us to do it again. This time, we’re headed to Uganda, and we’re adopting a beautiful 8-year-old (we’re naming her Lily), and a sweet 5-year-old (whom we’re naming Hope). On Tuesday of this week, we made the decision to go and bring them home.
This journey is not without risks. I believe that any good thing faces opposition — and this is no different. We are going without a court date being yet assigned, and the courts recess starting on July 15th (for about a month). Now, we’re not naive about this–there is good reason to believe that we will be granted a court date before that date, and we wouldn’t be traveling otherwise.
But what would YOU do, if your daughter was languishing in an orphanage across the seas?
Personally, I like risk-taking (when it’s calculated, of course). When I started my first business years ago, I had to dip into our HELOC to do it. When we had our first $100,000.00 day of sales (yes, you read that right), it cost a fair bit to pull it off.
During our first adoption, we were told not to come to Ethiopia yet. However, we felt a clear “call” to go, so we booked our flights and headed to the airport. [On the way to airport, our Ethiopian contact called us and said: “Ok, you can come now, but if you want to make your Embassy appointment, it better be fast!”. No problem, I replied:)]
But my sweet wife, married to a free-wheeling entrepreneur, has had to develop this risk-taking muscle. As the daughter of two lifetime public school teachers, she wasn’t exactly inclined towards the business owner life when we were married! But over the last ten years of our marriage, she has become a powerful fount of support — and even inspiration to me, and to many (she blogs about our adoptions and spiritual yearnings at a well-trafficked blog: www.EveryBitterThingisSweet.com — but she won’t let me promote it, aside from occasional mentions!).
So two quick closing thoughts (and applications) for YOU in this:
1) Some risks are worth taking. In my view, this indubitably includes things which might “cost”, when they pertain to the hearts of your children: you go. But this also includes investing in yourself, your firm, your business — I’m obviously biased towards the tools which WE provide, of course … but in this environment, you can’t shrink back in fear.
2) The work YOU do can touch the lives of your clients. Realize this. My CPA (back in Virginia) has been a continual source of encouragement, wisdom and competence. And handling our adoption issues has been no cakewalk! Similarly, you have clients whose tax forms reveal a wealth of heart-filled stories. Drop a note, give a phone call, send a personal email — do your work with excellence.
More rides on your work (and client relationships) than you can ever know.