During the adoption process, when they’d received photos of their daughter-to-be, the couple noticed a little boy in nearly every one. And when they visited the orphanage and saw Hannah and Dawson together, “I thought, ‘We can’t leave this boy in China,’” Sharon said.

Even before they left to return home, Sharon began posting photos of Dawson on Facebook, praying and pleading that someone, somehow, would provide him a home near his lifelong friend.

Chris and Amy Clary, a couple now members of the same Bible Fellowship at Prestonwood as the Sharon and Andy, quickly stepped up.

Chris and Amy weren’t planning to adopt. They already had three children – all younger than 4. But when Amy ran into some friends at Chick-Fil-A and saw Sharon’s Facebook photos and saw Dawson’s smile, she realized there was room for another child in her life.

“That’s where I first saw him,” Amy said. “But then, everything seems to happen at Chick-Fil-A.”

Chris initially took a more pragmatic view, she said.

“At first, he was like, ‘Let’s see what God is saying,’” Amy said.

But to her, God was already saying yes, and Chris soon agreed. Now, Amy said, “he’s a real advocate for getting kids out of orphanages.

“With me, he’s like, ‘Hey, we could do this again!’”

Mostly, though, Chris talks with other dads about the possibilities of adoption, she said.

“One of the things he tells them is to quit playing ‘I don’t want to do this’ and thinking instead that ‘I’ve been called to this,’” Amy said.