Our adoption journey really started over a year ago when I first stumbled across Reeces Rainbow. If you have followed our blog from the beginning, you will know that I have known for a very long time that I wanted adopt; in fact, I had looked into agencies a few times before. When I came across Reeces Rainbow, my heart broke. Many tears were cried for the hundreds of children wasting away in orphanages and mental institution just because they were not "perfect" by human standards. You see, it was not that long ago here in the US when children were placed into institutions because of their special needs, thankfully more and more people are coming to see that they are worth something and that they can contribute to society. Unfortunately in many other countries, these children are not given a chance to thrive, they are not picked up and held on a daily basis and are lucky to have their diapers changed more than once a day. There are several other, much better adoption blogs out there that describe the horrors that children with special needs face in other countries. I am trying doing my small part by getting the word out, by advocating for these children.
Yes, our blog has been mostly about our adoption of Claudia BUT that is not the bigger picture, our story does not end when she comes home. We may have stepped out in faith for this one child but we will not stop there. Does this mean that we will adopt more in the future? Perhaps (I hope so) but that is not enough. Our eyes have been opened to the horrors. We want to shout it out to all that will listen that these children deserve a chance at being children!
Not everyone is called to adopt, not everyone is eligible to adopt but everyone can make a difference. You can advocate for these children, you can pray for them and you can donate money to the families that are adopting them.
Some people think that "if you cannot afford to adopt, then you should not do it. How can you take care of the child?" To this I ask... could you afford all of your medical bills when you had a child? No, probably not, your insurance probably payed for it. Just because families do not have $30,0000 cash to adopt does not mean that they are not financially stable enough to care for a child. Some people think that fundraising for an adoption is wrong. I disagree. How many more families would welcome a child into their home if adoption were not so expensive? Others ask "Why don't you just adopt from within the US? or "Through foster care, it is free that way." To this I say, praise God that there are people who feel this way, YES these children need homes too. Every child deserves a loving home BUT this is not our calling. God has broken our hearts specifically for international children with special needs.
So I just want to reiterate that our story does not stop when Claudia gets home. Our hearts will not be satisfied while there are still millions of orphans without loving homes. We do not know where God will lead us next on our journey but we look forward to it. We know that our calling is not easy but we will continue to follow our calling, one day at a time.
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