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| V at the home he lived in before the orphanage |
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| V with myself , his birthmother and the family that cares for him now. A humbling experience. |
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| V with our kids on our trip to his orphanage |
We always knew we weren't done having kids... well I knew I was done the normal way but adoption wasn't off the table. :) We adopted Laurel at age 22 months and it was pretty seamless. She is my mini me and so well adjusted. Noah is an awesome big brother and loves his sister (most days.)
Many of you know we hosted "V" 2 years ago and it was a less than stellar experience. We were left feeling as if we had failed him. He was a confused, scared, hurt boy. That wasn't the end of the story. BUT GOD is all I can say. We organized a trip to his orphanage and brought supplies we knew were very needed. The conditions were heartbreaking. A lot of behaviors we witnessed that summer fell into place and made sense. But now, he knew he was loved. He had a wonderful missionary girl watching over and caring for him. He was a much more confident, happy child.
A few months after returning from the trip, he contacted us and asked us if we would re host him for the summer. I am not lying, our stomachs were in knots. We sought the Lord. We discussed it many times as a family. We all received the same answer from the Lord. Yes, we were suppose to rehost him for the summer.
This time it all went much much better. He arrived in better shape, smiling this time instead of sick and terrified. He knew we would not hurt him (he was told before by some workers that we would harvest his organs :( . For the most part, the 6 weeks flew by. We had a few issues as expected when blending cultures and ages but nothing like 2 summers ago.
He indicated to a close friend who speaks the language that he wanted us to adopt him. The rules of hosting are that we are not allowed to talk about adoption because this is a HOST ONLY program. So we prayed. A lot.
We were torn. Not only would be be adopting another child, this child would be our oldest. It would throw us ungracefully into the teen years. We would have to get a direct word from the Lord to move us forward. That is exactly what God did. On the same day, Mike and I both seperately got an answer and nudging from God to start V's paperwork.
So here we are..... working towards adopting a 14 soon to be 15 year old "manchild". He has been in contact with us and is desperate to leave his orphanage. He knows we are working on the paperwork and trying to raise the money to get him to a forever family. We still have about $11,500 left to raise to pay for the adoption. Adoption is costly to everyone involved. Not just money, but loss of a culture, family, friends, a language and way of life. It's loss of some children being the oldest and time with mom and dad that will be taken up dealing with issues that may arise. We do not have all the answers. We know problems will arise and have to be worked through. One thing we do have peace about is that this is something we were CALLED to. It is unmistakable or we wouldn't be touching it with a 10 ft pole. This child needs and wants a family. He needs and wants someone to show him how to become a man who can work and one day support himself. So we walk in obedience. Nervous, yes but also confident in the one who called us. If you feel lead to support our adoption we would be grateful! Just follow the Reeces Rainbow link on the side bar to our tax-deductable account. God bless you!
