Little Teeny Steps

What a patience testing, faith building, prayer inducing journey this is!  Sometimes I wish it was all easy, done with, over and that our little boy was here with us already.  Being in the line of work that I am in as a doula I know how important and necessary those 40 weeks of pregnancy are and how critical it is for a baby to not be rushed out of the womb.  So why is it so hard to transfer that same belief to our adoption journey? 

Probably because I know that Dmitry has never known a Momma's love or a Daddy's tickle.  He has never known the fierce protection of an older brother or the sweet kisses of a sister.  He doesn't know that he has had 2 birthdays already because no one has ever celebrated him, never celebrated his life.  He just exists from day to day, much of the time being left in a crib, alone, dirty and hungry.  Some of the children are drugged for "best sleep".  That means they are given sleeping pills so they can stay in their crib 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and not make any noise.  Is our little boy given sleeping pills?  Or is he in a "good" baby home and is allowed to sit on the dirty floor with a toy? Here are the words of one Momma who adopted her daughters from an orphanage in Eastern Europe. 

Simply heart breaking!! 

This is why I want Dmitry to be home NOW!! So, as we wait and go through each step needed, we pray all day and before bed (and in the middle of the night when I wake with him on my heart). We pray for his protection. We pray that his belly is miraculously filled with food, his heart with laughter and love and his bones with strength.  We pray for the hands that take care of his daily needs.  We pray for healing over his little body.  We pray for our bond with him to be STRONG when we can finally hold him in our arms. We pray for mental stimulation as he sits in his crib.  And his big brother and his big sister, with tears in their eyes, pray prayers of thanksgiving, joy and praise for a life soon to be saved.  They love this little boy and have given most of their own money for his adoption. It is one thing for my heart strings to be connected to a little boy in an orphanage in Eastern Europe but to see the smiles on their faces when we talk about Dmitry, pray for Dmitry and collect funds for Dmitry... It makes this Mommy's heart soar!

Sweet boy of mine, sitting on the other side of the world, you are loved beyond measure, treasured more than any earthly jewel and missed more than words can describe.  We are working so hard to bring you HOME, a  place you don't even know exists.  We look forward to the day we will take you from that orphanage and never look back.  

The day that there is 

One Less Orphan!

A Person's A Person Now Matter How Small

http://www.parentpreviews.com/movie-reviews/horton-hears-a-who/

Horton the Elephant, who, in the afternoon of May 15 while splashing in a pool located in the Jungle of Nool, hears a small speck of dust, on a small flower, talking to him. It turns out the speck of dust is actually a tiny planet, home to a city called Whoville, inhabited by microscopic-sized inhabitants known as "Whos" with the Mayor as their leader.

The Mayor asks Horton (who, though he cannot see them, is able to hear them quite well, because of his large ears) to protect them from harm, which Horton happily agrees to do, proclaiming throughout the book that "even though you can’t see or hear them at all, a person’s a person, no matter how small." In doing so he is ridiculed and forced into a cage by the other animals in the jungle for believing in something that they are unable to see or hear.

Horton tells the Whos that, lest they end up being boiled in "Beezelnut Oil", they need to make themselves heard to the other animals. The Whos finally accomplish this by ensuring that all members of their society play their part. In the end it is a "very small shirker named JoJo" whose final addition to the volume creates enough lift for the jungle to hear the sound, thus reinforcing the moral of the story: "a person’s a person, no matter how small."

www.wikipedia.com

Countless children, born with an extra chromosome, sit in orphanages in Eastern Europe.  They are hidden from society and forgotten about.  Then, at the age of 4 or 5 they are sent to a MENTAL INSTITUTION until they DIE!! What??!!  Die!! All because they have an extra chromosome.  These children have a greater capacity to love and laugh and share joy than most children I have ever met! Yet, they are a shame to the country they were born in.  These little ones are children, not monsters or freaks of nature.  People have asked us if we are sure about adopting a child with Down Syndrome, are we sure it won't be too much, are we sure our biological children will be ok with it, are we sure we want to make such a commitment to a child with so many needs...?  So, in answer to all those people with all those questions...



http://www.michaeldimarco.com/posts/the-year-of-yes

Yes, we are sure!!  We talk about, pray for, dream about, plan for and are raising funds to bring Dimitry home.  He is OURS.  Zak and Brenna are beyond excited to share the love of Jesus with him.  Dmitry matters to Jesus.  Jesus says, in Matthew 19:14
"Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."


We are adopting Dmitry because a "person's a person, no matter how small" and he is our little person!

~ One Less Orphan! ~

We are expecting...

...a TODDLER!!!  Yup!!  And we are more than excited about his "birth" into our family! 

See that sweet little face? That is Dmitry, he just turned 2 in April. He is currently living in a baby house in Eastern Europe, but he will not stay there for long. Because he was born with Down Syndrome, he will never be accepted by society in his home country. At 4 years old, he will be transferred to an institution where he will almost certainly die by the age of 6. Brian and I are on a mission to save his life. He is so precious and is already our son in our hearts, but we want him to be ours forever. We want him to come and live with us and to know what it feels like to have a family that will love him unconditionally. In order to make this happen, we have to raise $25,000. Seems like quite a feat, right? We thought so too, but the Bible tells us that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed, we can move mountains and nothing will be impossible for us. God has laid it on our hearts to save one of his orphans and we are relying on faith to bring him home. 

One less orphan!!

Adoption Yard Sale

yardsaleyearround.com

On July 9th we are having an Adoption Yard Sale.  All proceeds will go towards our adoption fund.  But, this yard sale is very different than any you have ever seen.  Everything is free, like God's gift of salvation.  FREE!! Donations are welcome but not required.  While we do have a "need" for adoption funds, we are well aware of the fact that there are many families in our town that really need things and have no way of getting them.  So, we want to get the word out to them that they can come and get what they need and not have to pay for it.

Please pass the word around .

~One less orphan~