I've always held a respect for families that chose to adopt. And I've always viewed families with any child with special needs as blessed. Chosen, if you will. I never for a moment thought we would find ourselves in the adoption process, for two children, from a foreign country, both of which have "special needs." Yet here we are.
As a young woman I wanted a large family, 5 children to be exact. Three boys, two girls, evenly spaced about 2-3 years apart. Maybe you can relate to having it all figured out. And then LIFE took different directions than I envisioned in my naive youth.
So here we are mid thirties, with three amazing boys, feeling very blessed, having an amazing life filled with travel and dreams come true. Yet, we felt called to love more children. We discovered through a journey of heartbreak that my (Deanna's) body was not cooperating and we would quite probably never have more children of our own. At least not through traditional methods.
We began praying over our options, waiting for the Lord to guide our path. A desire to adopt was born, and through a series of events we were led to pursue adoption of a beautiful little girl in China with Down Syndrome. We know not what to expect as far as her abilities and needs, we simply know we love her already and wish for her to have the love of family. (You can read a little about how we came to find her here - (https://www.purecharity.com/the-keirs-become-seven).
As we began this journey the Lord revealed to us a young man a little younger than my Kobie who not only needs the love of a family, he needs a chance at life. You see, he has suspected hemophilia and will reach an age soon when he is no longer eligible for adoption. He needs medication in order to have a chance at life - and once he ages out of the system he will not receive the needed medical care. The picture that captured me, that compelled us to move forward and offer him a home with us, showed nothing but sadness. He does not have the life my boys do...a life of play, running and jumping and being active. Instead, he lives in fear of injury. Heartbreaking. Our desire is to give him a chance to live. To be able to laugh and smile and find joy in normal day to day activities.
As I said....we wouldn't have guessed this day would come. And as we enter this special journey to bring hope and love to two kids from a foreign land, we do so on the promise found in Proverbs 16:3..."Commit to the Lord whatever you do and He will establish your plans." I've prayed for the Lord to break my heart for what breaks His. And he answered with a call to China, to two children who were tossed aside and only know what it is to live without a family of their own. Yes, I believe this breaks the heart of Jesus. And now it breaks mine as well....enough to hear Him say "GO." So, here we GO.....
Praying. Iris
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