I Am Not Funny

Just so you know, I realize that.

I am not funny and neither is my blog, it's actually quite serious and occasionally depressing.

But you should also know that I am neither quite as serious/depressing as my blog might portray.  It's merely an outlet for that part of my being - writing it has some sort of therapy value.

Lately I have been reading the pure genius found at Hyperbole and a Half, and realizing with only a slight pang of regret that I will simply Never Be That Funny... even if I stopped being serious/depressing and tried.

That said, reading the aforementioned blog has given me a lot of random ideas for things I'd like to blog about that are not quite as serious/depressing as my usual fare.

Like how I made my entire family hate even the sight or mention of peanut butter cookies.  Or the time that I was 15 and in the emergency room with my first (five) kidney stones, which is actually an amusing story.  Or the harrowing saga of trying to get a three year old to succumb to an afternoon nap.  Or this hilarious sign I saw and took a picture of the other day (which would make a short blog post because I did take a picture of it).  Or nearly half a dozen other things that crop up in the terrifying corn-maze (you know the one) that is my mind daily, but for some reason I can't think of right now.

So, if I blog about any of that stuff in the future, just know that I realize that I am not funny.  I am not trying to turn my serious/depressing blog into a funny one.  It's more like - ok, this is the actual example I thought up just now - normally what I put on my blog is whatever my brain pukes up.  This time, my brain ate something like this funfetti cake that my mom made me because she was so glad I got a job (I am not kidding about that part)... and started barfing rainbows instead.

This is the "I'm so glad you got a job" cake I spoke of.

And that's the whole point of this post.  To tell you that my brain may start barfing rainbows.  You're welcome.

Surgery... and a plea

Tomorrow I go in for surgery to excise the endometriosis that causes me such extreme pain each month.

This is the same type of surgery that almost killed me two years ago... but the same type that was successful three years before that.

It is a new doctor... a man of God who has helped a dear friend of mine get her life back.

I come to you humbly asking for prayer

...that I will get through this surgery without complications

...that it will give me my life back

...for a smooth and minimally painful recovery.

I also come to you asking for your blessings for some dear friends of mine while I am 'out of commission'.

This is "Annie".

Remember her?  Remember those eyes that reminded me so much of my A when I saw them for the first time this Spring?

Annie is being adopted!

It absolutely thrills me to tell you that God used me and my precious A to help her find her family.

I "met" Amanda shortly after I posted about Annie in May.  She and her husband have committed to adopt her.  It makes me grin just thinking about how it all came about.  A total God story.

Amanda is an amazing and generous person and has launched a fundraiser to help not only her family, but another family bring home their child(ren).  It is a 50/50 wherein you get to vote on which family will receive the other half of the funds.  Amanda and her husband put up the first $100, because they are wonderful, selfless people committed to helping ALL orphans.  Their donation was finally matched yesterday bringing the fundraiser total to $200.  With the donations divided in half, Amanda and her husband would just break even if the fundraiser ended today.

But it doesn't.  There are a little over five days left of this fundraiser.  Still plenty of time to donate for your favorite child or family...

...or just to make your friend Katie smile.

It is my dearest wish that I will come home to a significant bump in the Jones' family's fundraising efforts.  Please check it out here.

Just $5 earns you a vote.  Little more than a bag of potato chips.  Think of the difference it would make if we ALL just chipped in $5.

You can also find their tax-deductible Reece's Rainbow FSP here.

Pretty please?

Blog Changes

Those of you who follow this blog can, for the most part, still see it.  So I wanted to explain quickly why I won't be blogging much here for the next month or so.  I have to put this blog on private for personal reasons (rather than delete a bunch of stuff) but with it being Angel Tree season at Reece's Rainbow, I didn't want to NOT have a blog to post on when I have a face or a family I want to share.  So my new blog is:

http://crazy-arewethereyet.blogspot.com/

If you were following this one, or even if you weren't, feel free to follow that one!  There's even a tab on the side that lets you follow by e-mail if you aren't a blogger user.  I may return to this one at some point in the future but for now that's unknown.  Thanks for your patience :)

It's not 'all better' yet

I know I have kids to profile.  I know there are other blog posts I need to write, but this one is on my mind.

A little over a year ago, it came to light that one of the orphanages in EE that houses many of the waiting children on Reece's Rainbow was beyond our worst fears, the darkest of the dark places, a hell on earth, where skeletal beings that barely resembled the children they once were and could have still been starved and lay in filth, day in, day out.  A place whose own government likened it to one of the Nazi death camps of WWII.

People jumped.  People screamed.  Committed families were found for children, some of them committing to adopt three, four children at once, because it was CLEAR... that these children's only hope of SURVIVAL was to be adopted.  Yes, it really was that dire.  I am not exaggerating.  There is no doubt in my mind that but for the light shed on this place by the first family to see and speak out about the conditions there, more than one child would have died in this past year.  Probably a child whose face we know.  A child who, instead of being on the 'My Family Found Me' page, might've been on the 'In Loving Memory' page. And he or she would not have been alone, for that place averaged one death per month.  Imagine that.  Twelve faces gone forever.

For a while, we thought, OK, good.  Now people see what a horrible place this is and will do anything to get kids out of there.

And friends, I hate to say it, but we overestimated ourselves.

We were sure that as children became available for adoption, families would quickly step forward for each of them.  At first they did.  Then things got a little scarier.  Sarah and Carissa's files were due to be sent back within weeks of their move to the My Family Found Me page.  And Gabby too.  We thought - we'll scream louder.  And then more children were listed, and some of them found families right away.

Some of them didn't.  August went out with many heavy hearts, knowing that the files of two precious and beautiful children had been sent back to the government, because, in two months, no one had stepped up and said "I will go, that is my son, that is my daughter".  None of those people who, when little Katie Musser came home from the orphanage now commonly known as The Bad Place (I believe we have Jennifer to thank for that?  It's very apt.  Right up there with 'He Who Must Not Be Named'.  But I digress.) had said, when advocates cried "JUMP!", had asked, "How high?" were there to jump.  Two files went back to the government.  We, in our inaction, unconsciously sent the government, the very one we have been trying to convince of the value of special needs children, of how much we love and want them in our families, the message that, 'not these ones, they are not worth it.'  No, we didn't mean to send that message.  But you'd better bet that's the one they received.

Now a whole new crop of orphans from The Bad Place are listed on Reece's Rainbow, and more on other sites which I do not follow as closely.  Lydia Rosencrants has done a wonderful job profiling them on her blog.  She herself is adopting two precious treasures from that very place.

And this new crop of orphans?

They sit.  They wait.  They don't have committed families.  No one is coming for them.  Maybe their files will be sent back too.

And why?  Why, all of the sudden, have the hundreds of people who came forward and said 'We want to help, tell us how to adopt a child from this place', disappeared?

I have my suspicions.

Encouraging news has come from the orphanage lately.  News that the new director is trying to get the kids some proper nutrition, that she cares about them, that outside aid to the orphanage is being accepted, that the children are finally playing outside, that many, many more of them are receiving 'Babas' (A Baba is a grandmother figure who spends time with one or two specific children at the orphanage daily).  This is FABULOUS news, right?

But does it mean The Bad Place is fixed?  Does it mean it's not a problem anymore, that it's okay for these kids to stay there, that they don't need families and it doesn't matter if their files get sent back?

NO!  NO, NO, NO, NO!  PLEASE, PLEASE don't allow yourself to be lulled into that false sense of security, because while improvements ARE being made, this is still a place that is awful beyond awful.  You wouldn't send your dog there.  And these are CHILDREN.

Very, very few visitors have been granted access to the top floor of the orphanage, where the 'worst cases' are kept.  Those who have still see stark reminders of the horribleness of this place.  The bottles, those horrible bottles, with the soupy grey mixture in them... beer bottles with a cut nipple stretched over the top, shoved into children's mouths while they lay flat on their backs.  Children who are so terrified to leave their cribs, to be held or interacted with, because it's a completely foreign concept to them... those cribs are all they've ever known.  Children who are still skeletally thin.  Teenagers the size of babies.  Diapers changed once, maybe twice a day, if they're lucky.  And even with the improvements made here... the added nutrition... the light shed on this dark place... yes, in the past 12 months, there have been deaths.

The bottles

Make no mistake.  The Bad Place is still just as much The Bad Place as it was a year ago.  Improving is not the same as 'all better'.  Yes, we are grateful for every one of these improvements.  They are a step in the right direction.  But when you start out with conditions so poor that no ANIMAL, let alone human being, should  have to endure them, there's a looooong way to go to reach 'all better'.  Our own country, knowing of problems in social care homes for children with disabilities, still took YEARS to reform the system and end those conditions.  While improvements have been made, the urgency to get these children out of this place is VERY MUCH the same as it was 12 months ago.

But we're not seeing it anymore.   We're not seeing the rallying for these kids like we did before.  Even families who committed to children in those first months had to wait until close to their final travel dates for the relief of knowing they were fully funded.  Yes, it comes together... we don't, if we can help it, abandon our own in the process.  But it's slowing down, just like the family commitments are slowing down, and leaving those families who DID step up in a frightening lurch, not knowing where the money is going to come from, if it will keep them from getting to their child as quickly as possible when time is very much of the essence.  This should not be.

My friends, we did not do this on purpose, but we became complacent with the news that improvements were occurring in this place.  We unconsciously relegated it in our minds to a state of 'not as bad'.  Well, not as bad as a Nazi death camp isn't exactly saying much.  It's like being transferred from Auschwitz to Theresienstadt.  You're still in a concentration camp.  You still must cling to a thread of life in a desolate place.  You still need out.  It is the SAME in The Bad Place.  Those kids still need out... and bad.  Given a chance to flourish, you should see what these children have become!  Those left behind could do the same... given the chance.

Remember THIS Katie?

Just look at her now!

And trust me, she is not the only one flourishing.  As I get permission to share before/after photos, I will add them to this post or make a separate post.

I urge you now to fight complacency, to steel yourselves to fight for these kids just as you did (or, if you're new to the international adoption scene, as others did) 12 months ago.  Do not mistake improvements for a decrease in urgency.  Do not mistake what looks like a relatively healthy child (ie one who is not grossly malnourished to the point of looking like an infant) for an ACTUAL healthy child, because not much could be farther from the truth.  Don't let the children of The Bad Place fall down on your priority list.

Specifically I'm asking a few things, a few concrete things we can do to fight this complacency, this errant notion that things are 'better'.

1. (And most important) - PRAY!  GOD is the almighty one who will set the lonely in families (Psalms 68:6) and HE can do this.  BELIEVE in the power of prayer.  Did we not pray home each and every child in such fragile condition who is now flourishing?  I am certain that was not done without God's hand on those children.

2. DONATE.  There are families in the process of adopting children from The Bad Place who are still significantly short on funds.  Your gifts to them, however big or small, make their days.  I promise you, the number of times I have seen an adoptive parent overjoyed because their family's grant fund grew by a few bucks is astounding.  You'd be surprised how little you have to do to bless someone enormously.

3. ADVOCATE.  These families and the waiting children alike NEED for us to scream for them.  They need to be seen.  We all have limited resources, but we know, if we all give a little, we can achieve great things.  Widening our pool of people who can give a little will ease the stress on the others and bring about more results more quickly.

4. ADOPT!  Yes, I know not everyone can adopt.  I know not everyone should adopt.  But we are ALL called to care for the orphan, it's there in the Bible, and it's not a calling, it's a commandment.  People care for the orphan in many ways, but many of them rule out adoption because they don't feel 'called' to it.  My request of you is that you truly examine the reasons you feel like adoption is not for you, and make sure that you are not closing a door that God wants you to walk through.  Examine whether it is rationality, or fear, behind those reasons.  And if it's fear?  PLEASE talk to someone who has been involved in the adoption community about the miracles we have witnessed.  Do NOT be afraid.  No one will fault you if adoption is still not for you... but let God close that door if it's meant to be closed.  Don't ignore him tapping on your shoulder like I did for nine days before I started this blog.  I promise, he won't leave you alone until you listen.


Finally, I want to acknowledge that the place I am referring to is NOT the only bad place by far.  Conditions in orphanages all over the world are terrible, but because of the way the system works in the country these children are in, their window of opportunity is very limited.  It is a combination of factors that makes this particular place one of urgency.  Certainly I would not fault anyone for adopting from or supporting a family who is adopting from another orphanage - not one bit - they all need to come home.  I just don't want this notion that things are 'better' at The Bad Place to stand between these kids and their families.  Maybe, someday, it will be 'all better'... but that starts with getting those kids out of there, and that starts with YOU - whatever role you choose to take.

I have included within, or am including below, links to lists of families adopting from The Bad Place, links to blogs of some families who I have been following in their journey to bring their children home, or who have been advocating for these children, or both - and am also including below the photos of each child currently waiting on Reece's Rainbow from The Bad Place, and a link to their profile.  I will also be profiling these children in more detail with my angel tree children as time and space allow.  Please see the children.  Please see the families.  Please act.

Blogroll of families adopting from The Bad Place

The Children of The Bad Place - Part I

The Children of The Bad Place - Part II

And here are their faces.  Look at the ages below the children's pictures (their names and ages are also links to their profiles).  I promise you will be shocked by the ages of these children... malnutrition has left them looking much younger than they are, their bodies are in a state of starvation and have all but shut down.)  As you look at the pictures and the ages that go along with them, remember that little Katie was nine years old when that first heartbreaking photo of her was taken.  She was functioning at the level of a 0-3 month old baby.  For these children, age is indicative of nothing but how long they've suffered in an orphanage.

Presley is three years old.

Kramer is eight years old.

Carson is six years old.

Chad is nine years old.

Brandi is six years old.

Gage is two years old.

Garnet is ten years old.
This little one is also up for Angel Tree voting this week.

Harvey is three years old.

Thad is nine years old.

Theodore is ten years old.

See their faces.  Pray.  Advocate.  Donate.  Adopt.  However you choose to do it, care for the children and families of The Bad Place.  Care for the least of these.  PLEASE.

Happy Endings Don't Happen On Their Own

We all know the fairy tales.  The rags to riches story.  Cinderella, stuck in a seemingly hopeless life of servitude.  Harry Potter, an orphan with no one to love him.  Hansel and Gretel, abandoned by their father in the woods.  At the end of many of these stories, there is some variation of the phrase "Happily Ever After".

Well, folks, Happily Ever After doesn't just *happen*.  The heroes of these stories had to tackle overwhelming odds to get to that Happily Ever After.  In some cases, they couldn't help themselves and relied on others to do the right thing.  What if Prince Charming had decided he'd never succeed in finding out who wore that glass slipper?  Suddenly, "Happily Ever After" isn't so happy anymore.

It doesn't come as a surprise to most of us that these 'rags to riches' stories occur not just in fables and books, but in real life.  In fourth grade, I did a report on Shania Twain, whose parents were killed in a crash when she was just a teenager, who stepped up to raise her brothers and sisters and further her career to help them, and who became one of the idols of the 1990's music scene.  There are so many more examples, I'm sure you can think of a few of your own.

What's less encouraging, though, is that in real life, those 'rags to riches' stories are the minority.  Most of the time, there is no "Happily Ever After".  Most of the time, the story is 'rags to rags'.

Some time ago, I was blessed to come upon the story of a little girl named Katie.  Katie's story is not a 'rags to riches' story in the traditional sense - for her family is not rich, they do not live a lavish life... but one thing they are rich in is love... the very thing that sweet Katie was deprived of for nine years, because she was born with Down Syndrome in a country that doesn't appreciate the worth of children with special needs.

Here is Katie in her 'rags'.

Then, nine year old Katie was being treated in a Japanese-run hospital in her home country for severe malnutrition, among other things.  That hand on her tiny little body?  One of the very first experiences she had with this thing called 'love'.  Katie was not just starved for food... she was starved for the love of a family.

Now, several months later, here is Katie among only SOME of her 'riches'.

Now home with an American family, Katie has a mom, a dad, and ten brothers and sisters who absolutely dote on her.  A whole host of people follow Katie's story via her family's blog and pray for her daily.  That little girl in the first picture who had been starved for both food and affection, is now swimming in it.  Hallelujah.


But then my heart broke to learn the other half of the story... that of the children left behind.  Because Katie's family was extremely proactive in getting the word out about the conditions in her former orphanage, many more children have now been or are in the process of being adopted from there.  With each trip come more and more encouraging reports of the orphanage's progress.  But what if Susanna Musser had never set foot in that place in Eastern Europe?  What if she had never seen for herself the conditions in which little Katie was living in?  What if that orphanage had remained closed off to the outside... no encouraging reports... no reports at all... yet children still spending every single day of their miserable existence there?

Well, what happens then... cannot be put delicately.  Children die.  They die alone.  They die having never known the love of a family.  The 'In Loving Memory' page at Reece's Rainbow is far too crowded with children who were just overlooked for too long and couldn't hold on anymore.

Some children are lucky enough to have advocates, families who have met them, people who will shout from the rooftops for them until they, too, can come home to the riches of the love of a family.  But some children are in orphanages where... we truly don't know what's going on.  They could suffer as sweet Katie did.  We don't know... because no one has gone to that place, met them, and screamed for the injustice of their condition.  We don't know... because the most 'update' we get, is a new photo every few years, if we're lucky.  Sometimes, like in the case of Ksenia, the photo 'updates' are devastating.  It leaves us to wonder... what is happening when there are no updates at all?  If that photo of Ksenia was one her government felt comfortable displaying on the internet... what images are the governments of these countries NOT showing us?

One of these little ones on whom we have little information and have not, in a long time, receieved an update, is the little boy who holds my heart.  His name is Brett, he is ten years old (but has a birthday coming up!) and has Down Syndrome.  He is living in an institution in Eastern Europe.  He is the only child currently listed on Reece's Rainbow from his institution... so no families to visit to report back on the conditions, no families to bring over supplies of treats and toys... no families to post an updated photo - the one we have is three years old.  He is largely and tragically overlooked.

Worse still, is what Reece's Rainbow has to say about Brett:

Boy, Born August 23, 2001
Diagnosis: Down Syndrome, Severe lagging behind in his development, Alopetio areata.  The photo was takenon May 2009.   This child had a rough start in his life.   Immediately after giving birth to him in the open country she abandoned him on the field.  He was found and taken to the hospital.   His condition was poor but the doctors saved his life.
SINGLE MOMS, OLDER PARENTS, & LARGE FAMILIES WELCOME, EASY TRAVEL

It sounds like the beginning of a fairy tale, doesn't it?  A classic rags to riches story.  Abandoned at birth in a field, left to die.  Miraculously found and taken to the hospital.  A life saved.  Then sent to live out his days in the care of government-run orphanages and institutions.  What dreadful rags this poor boy was given.

So, next should be the 'riches' part... right?

Wrong.

Ever so sadly, Brett STILL waits.  He waits because he is a member of one of the hardest to place groups of adoptable children - boys over 10 years old.  He waits because he has Down Syndrome.  He waits because he lives in a place where he is not seen and therefore seldom advocated for.  He waits because, even though he has my heart, I do not qualify to adopt him.  He waits... until somebody steps up for him.  If no one does before he turns 16, or passes away... there will be no riches in Brett's story.

I don't know why he captured my heart.  I don't know why I haven't been able to stop thinking of him since December.  Perhaps it's his sad story.  I can't bring myself to believe that God delivered him from certain death only to let him languish in an institution.  Or perhaps it's because he reminds me of another little boy... a little boy who had Down Syndrome.  a little boy who was ten years old... a little boy who lived decades ago... who did not want for love or attention, but who passed away tragically because his heart condition could not be corrected at the time.

A little boy named Tony, who just happened to be my Mom's little brother... my uncle... who the doctors said should spend his days in an institution, but who his parents brought home anyways.  A little boy who, even though I never had the chance to meet, I love dearly.

As much as I know that my Uncle Tony lives with God now, dances with the angels, plays with his rope and his suitcase and eats umma ummas in Heaven... I don't want Brett to join him.  Not yet.  Not without having known the love of a family... the love that my amazing grandparents gave to Little Tony.  But I've felt stuck, because of my age and my financial situation, there is little I can do for Brett.  I want to bring him home, introduce him to my wonderful family who appreciate all the gifts that children with Down Syndrome have to offer... but I can't.  So when an opportunity popped up that might get Brett noticed for once, might help him find his family... I couldn't contain my excitement.

You see, Reece's Rainbow does this program every year called Angel Tree.  Traditionally, only children 0-5 with Down Syndrome are included in the angel tree.  Each of them gets a Christmas warrior who sends out ornaments in exchange for donations and tries to raise that child's grant by a significant amount by the end of December.  This year, due to pleas from so many advocates, an opportunity was offered to put older children and children with other special needs on the angel tree.  But there's a catch.  Eleven children from each age and disability category have been chosen by the RR leadership.  They are posted for a week, and anyone can then vote on which child they want to see on the angel tree.  There is only one vote per person per category.  (If you have multiple members of your family who want to vote, you might try to seek out a second IP address).  The boys in Brett's category are posted this week, and he is one of them!  Praise God! However, many of these boys are very much loved, many have tireless advocates who want to see them on the angel tree, and it is my fear that Brett will be overlooked, once again.  Rags to rags.

This is where you come in.  I am pleading for your votes for Brett this week.  Voting for his category ends next Thursday, August 16, at 5 pm.  Placing a vote costs you nothing - simply follow this link, find his sweet little face, and click the 'vote' button next to the star above it.  It takes two seconds - literally.  And it would mean the world to me.  Please, for Christmas, won't you put this precious angel on my tree?

And in case anyone sees this who might be interested in being Brett's family... adoptions in his country are very open and have few restrictions with regards to parental age, family size, and a number of other factors.  The travel is not difficult.  The cost is relatively low when compared with some other country programs.  And I can guarantee you at least one of Brett's advocates (can you guess who that is?  Me, perhaps?) will literally sell the clothes off my back to fund the family who brings him home.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions - you can comment on this post, or contact me at the e-mail address listed under the 'about me' tab at the top of my blog.  And please help me make sure that sweet Brett does not spend one more day being overlooked.  This is your chance to be a part of his 'Happily Ever After'.  Don't miss it.

No eloquence tonight - just a golden opportunity

I've sat here in front of my computer for two days trying to come up with the right, perfect words to write this post, and I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to find them - at least not before it's too late - so these ones are going to have to do.

Some friends of mine, who live literally within walking distance, are in Eastern Europe right now completing their second adoption.  They adopted their daughter Etta, who has down syndrome and autism, a little over a year ago - I only met her once so far but let me tell you, she is just a bundle of cuteness!  They also have an eight year old son (who A proudly befriended at the playground) and their very own angel.  They are a beautiful family and I have been so excited to see them through this adoption!

Knowing that older children stand less of a chance of being adopted, Faith and Evan chose Josiah to be their son (They will call him Cohen).  He is eight years old and has Down Syndrome.  They traveled to his country a little over a week ago to meet him, bond with him, and bring him home

Josiah/Cohen in his adoption file photo

Faith, Josiah/Cohen, Morgan, Evan and Etta... such a beautiful forever family!

From what I can tell, the Jobes family has been responsible for bringing joy to the residents of Josiah/Cohen's mental institution for the past week.  The smiling faces of these men and boys of all ages tell me that this family's trek across the ocean is already benefiting more than just the child they went there to adopt.

And indeed, the Jobes family had love left over to give.  Once in country, they asked for a blind referral of a baby girl with Down Syndrome.  And they were given this:

Linden.  A golden opportunity not only for the Jobes, but for this baby girl, no more than one year old, to escape the life of institutionalization that would await a child like her, a little girl with down syndrome, in her country.  She could be home, with a family, in a matter of weeks!  Instead of lying in a bed in an orphanage, like Josiah/Cohen did seven years ago, before his family found him.

It's well known that older children are not adopted as often as younger children.  Their institutional behaviors, chronic medical issues, traumatic pasts, often scare families away.  The words "Mental Institution" are usually enough to send a family running for the hills.  But not the Jobes.  No - they crossed the ocean for that dear boy who lives in the mental institution, with men and boys even older than himself who never found families.  And you know what?  Faith and Evan just adore him, no matter how old he is or where he lives.  Look how precious:

And now they have the opportunity to bring Linden home BEFORE she has to spend years in an institution!  But, as I'm sure you've all guessed, her redemption comes at a cost.  Because Linden is in a different region than Josiah/Cohen, her adoption requires an additional facilitation cost of $9,000, with added travel possibly causing the total needed funds to reach $12,000.  In the first days after Faith announced their intent to bring Linden home, $2,000 was raised.  Amazing, right?  But here we sit, it's 1:00 AM EST, which means the Jobes are probably just waking up and getting ready for their Tuesday.  The $9,000 has to be raised by FRIDAY!  That is only four days people!

And for a moment, I thought it might be impossible.  For a moment, the adoption community seemed to falter in its steadfast support of all these families.  But then it roared back to life with the news that the Jobes are being offered a MATCHING GRANT of $3,000!  Do you know what that means?  We don't need to raise $7,000 more by Friday... if we raise $3,000, it will become $6,000!

Just like Linden, her sunny little self in her yellow outfit... this is a golden opportunity.  Home in weeks.  Not in an orphanage.  Never in a mental institution.  A beloved daughter and sister.  And all that stands between Linden and that opportunity is money.  Since when have we let price tags scare us?

This is where I ask you for help.  Truly, I tell you that NOTHING is too small.  PLEASE, consider giving to the Jobes to help with Linden's adoption.  I want to kiss those cheeks, people!  Think about it.  If you donate just $5, it becomes $10.  What you would've spent at McDonald's for lunch instead of toughing it out with a PBJ one day.  $5 isn't too much to give.  It isn't too little.  With the matching grant, it DOUBLES!  And think, if you can spare $10?  Skip pizza night?  That's $20 toward Linden's adoption!

A few months ago, a fundraiser called Mulligan Stew on another blog (which I so enjoy reading) spanned a month and raised funds for several families adopting from a particularly brutal orphanage.  I couldn't afford to give much.  $5 here, $10 there.  I think in total I wound up giving about $45 over the span of the month.  Not enough to bring anybody home, right?

Except that everybody else chipped in $5 or $10 here or there too... and our gifts were multiplied... and the fundraiser concluded, having raised over $45,000!  Can you believe it?!  And that's not the only time I've seen this happen.  Small groups of people, each chipping in whatever they can, raising huge amounts in days to bring kids home.  A dear friend of mine went through her house over the weekend and collected all the change, totaling $35 to donate to the Jobes.  Could you do that?  Hunt down some change?  Chip in a little bit to be multiplied - and have the reward of seeing Linden come home?

Donations can be made to the Jobes FSP account at Reece's Rainbow via paypal, credit or debit.  It's easier than making a purchase on Amazon... and so much more meaningful!  You can find their FSP at this link:  http://reecesrainbow.org/26162/sponsorjobes-2.  I believe that number needs to read $25,000 without the matching grant added, $28,000 with it.  Just a little over $3,000.  We can do this, people!  Remember, whatever you give will DOUBLE!  And even if you're completely financially tapped out... even if you can't spare a dime... you can lift Linden and the Jobes family up in prayer with us.  This is in His capable hands, but we must be His ground troops.

Could anything be more important than giving this precious babe the gift of a family, a life, an opportunity... that she could never have without you?  Linden... a golden opportunity.  Don't miss it.

http://reecesrainbow.org/26162/sponsorjobes-2

Being Grateful... The Unwrapping and more!

Before you get too excited, the video(s) are still to come.  I can't find the cord that uploads that stuff to my computer, and I had my brother take it on my camera instead of my phone because I thought it would upload faster.  Yeah, if only I could find the cord.  Brilliant, Katie.  I can, however, share a few birthday pictures :)  But that... is not all this post is about.  It is about being grateful... on every level... to someone you love for a special gift... to the people around you for their love and support... to God for our salvation.

But let's start with the small stuff.  This is fun.  I love watching her on her birthday.  This is a little girl who more than once has had nothing to her name, to whom birthdays were only another day, just with a bit of ruckus that she didn't understand.  I have photos of her third birthday... not on my computer but in print... and I see a scared, befuddled little girl trying to understand why all these grown-ups are standing so close to her, and why she can't just grab that yummy cake in front of her.  Tuesday, this is what I saw:

Our thanks goes out to our friend Shannon (whose adorable daughter is on the right) for the gorgeous cake! It was as delicious as it was beautiful!

And this is even before she found out what her BIG PRESENT was.  Look how happy she is.  She took forever making her wish.  The candles dripped.  I wondered what she was wishing for.  I hope she gets it, whatever it is.

After this we ate the deliciousness until just a quarter of the cake remained (I'm still convinced there couldn't possibly have been enough.  Shannon may not know it yet, but she's earned herself a regular customer...).  Then we brought down The Big Box.

She didn't get it at first.  She didn't understand.  She knew it was something good, we were going someplace fun, but what else was in that box?  The look on her face was like the look when she first saw her re-decorated bedroom

Complete and utter inability to comprehend what was before her.  When I took this picture nearly two years ago, it was as though I could hear her thoughts... "This is for me?  All for me?  For real?"

It was the same on Tuesday.  As she started to go through the contents of her suitcase, her excitement mounted, although sometimes I had to explain things to her ("why am I getting gum?" --airplane, silly!).  Over time it set in.  She took the announcement card I made that was attached to the balloons to gymnastics with her, and was so excited to share it with her teachers and classmates.

Then, the greatest gift of the whole day happened, on the way out of gymnastics.  She looked at me in the parking lot and said, "I am just so happy today because of you, Katie."


Be still my beating heart.  Maybe she didn't squeal and immediately comprehend what was going on when she opened the box.  Maybe she didn't react quite the way a typical child would - A has some delays.  But that sentence, out of the mouth of the little girl who was turned to stone by my hugs for years... well, I would wrap a million giant boxes of balloons for that.

Every day since then, she has told me how excited she is, how happy she is, and she makes sure to tell me thank you for her gift.  You know, the one that hasn't even happened yet.  As I tucked her into bed tonight, she said "I am just so excited, I just can't stop thinking about it, and thank you, Katie!" ... followed by a big hug.  Arms around the neck hug.

This child is truly grateful for what she has been given.  She didn't look up at me at the end of the day and ask whether there were more presents.  She looked up at me and said "I'm happy.  Thank you."  Life has taught her that some things are simply not to be taken for granted, particularly gestures made out of love.  Certainly she still had a lot to learn, but in turn, we have a lot to learn from her too.



Over the past few weeks, I've heard similar cries of thanks from the blogs I follow.  Families working hard to bring their children home, each day without them a struggle (one that I know too well), swallowing their pride and asking others for help, and then, rather than saying "What else can you do for me?" - they pause to simply give thanks for every last gift.  It is humbling to sit behind my computer and read about the mountains God is moving for these children, the people who pour their hearts and souls into saving the lives of these children, those who give selflessly, those who receive gratefully.  It's a world that I'm grateful to be a part of. A world that I'm grateful to have been welcomed into.

Many of these families will bring home children with much more serious delays than my A, who have been even more deprived their whole lives long.  These children will express that appreciation for the simplest of pleasures, for the things we take for granted.  A filling meal.  A clean bed.  Someone to hug goodnight.  Someone to love them.

It has made me think... perhaps we should all be more like all of them.  The children, the families, my A.  Maybe - no, definitely - we have a responsibility to learn the lesson they are subtly teaching us.



Look around you and give thanks.  Don't ask, "What can I have next," when you could say "Thank you for what I've been given."  Those of us who are Christian, if we have truly followed the Bible, know that we are truly unworthy of the gift that God has bestowed upon us, the gift of life, and the gift of salvation.  We are so unworthy that nothing we can do can possibly make us deserving of this gift.  But I think we don't often enough thank Him for it.  I know I don't.  In the three days since A found out about her birthday trip, she has thanked me more than as many times.  Yes, she's excited, but she doesn't only express that she's excited.  She doesn't take it for granted.  She remembers to give thanks.

When I think about it, I realize that I absolutely do not thank God enough for His amazing gifts.  Honestly, even if I spent every moment in prayer, I could not achieve that.  But I have not been trying hard enough.  I have taken for granted things that I should be eternally thankful for.  For that, I am sorry.  Tonight, I want to be grateful.  And I've come to realize... I have so much to be grateful for.

I am grateful for my life.  My salvation.  My Lord, who died for me on the cross.

I am grateful for my family, for the life I was born into, for the privileges I have had, for the people around me.

I am grateful for my Dear Borrowed Kids, for the opportunity to teach them and the opportunity to learn from them.

I am grateful to be a part of the adoption community, even though my own adoption is at least two years off.  I am grateful for how welcoming everyone has been.  I am grateful for their friendship.

I am grateful for the lives of millions of children I have never laid eyes upon.  Every single individual life.  The orphans.  The ones we are all trying so hard to help.

I am grateful for the priviledge of watching them come home, watching them blossom and grow and change, seeing the bountiful meadow revealed by the mountains God has moved to bring them home.

And so much more.  But tonight, I am humbled by the thought that I have been given amazing gifts - opportunities to watch God in action.  Opportunities to witness human kindness and compassion.  My heart is full of love today, for my A and my other two DBKs, for the orphans, for their families, for every single person who supports them... for the lesson I learn from them about being grateful.

To all of you who are reading this, you are the ones I am grateful for.  Thank you... for everything you do.  Thank you for changing children's lives.  Thank you for changing my life.

How You Could Be an Everyday Hero and Win Something at the Same Time!

So, friends, family, anyone who clicked on the facebook and twitter spam I've been putting out there.... wouldn't you like an iPad3?  Or a Kindle Fire?  Or one of many other amazing things available in today's America?  And don't you sometimes sit around thinking - wow, there sure are a lot of unfortunate people in this world... I wish there was something I could do...  Are you also wondering how these two issues might both be resolved at once?  Am I starting to sound like an infomercial?

*Grin*

Friends, I have what in my opinion is truly the opportunity of a lifetime for you.

For those of you new to my blog, I blog because of the deplorable conditions of the institutions which house special needs children worldwide, and because I support the families who adopt these children, both adding a valuable family member and literally saving a life.  Finally, I blog because I intend to someday become one of those families.  For a brief - and I say brief because this knowledge opens up a whole new world - glimpse of what special needs orphanages are like in many foreign countries, I encourage you to refer back to my very first blog post "Go Ahead, Call Me Crazy".  The post is not short and goes off in many directions, so if you'd rather not embark on the whole ride just yet, then please just watch this video, which I link at the beginning of that post.  Please be aware that it contains video from inside these institutions and is somewhat graphic (although, was part of a TV segment, so it has certainly been edited).  The video is here (click to watch).  Remember, you are not watching for no reason.  I have already said, there is something you can do TODAY to help!


For those of you who've been around here a while, I apologize for not telling you to skip that bit, I was afraid if I said that part first, everyone would assume it was unimportant!

 (These two are Lilianna, age 10, and Val, age 7)

Now that we are all relatively on the same page with regards to the orphan crisis, I want to tell you about a unique opportunity, and yes, how you can win that iPad 3!


Most orphanages are bad, this we know.  I once 'heard' a Mom say that there is no "good" orphanage.  However, some are the worst of the worst.  Some are beyond deplorable.  Currently, some really amazing advocates (and also adoptive parents) are running a giveaway called Mulligan Stew.  The way it works is essentially simple.  You donate to the kids in these orphanages (the 'worst of the worst'), you get chances to win.  And yes, in the prizes, are one iPad 3 and two Kindle Fires, as well as gift cards, goodies, opportunities, things we'd all love to get our hands on.  Further, once you've donated to one family, you can get extra entries for extra donations and for sharing about the giveaway.  All this is detailed on the blog of these amazing advocates, and I have already entered, so if you have any questions you can feel free to ask me. 


The Mulligan Stew Giveaway is detailed in any recent post on THIS BLOG (THIS IS WHERE YOU CLICK NOW).


I have heard more than one person attest that they have chipped in $5 or $10 in a similar giveaway and WON the big prize, so don't think you can't win it.  This is one family running one blog, on the entire internet.  So all that's left is for you to head over there and get yourselves entered - and help save lives at the same time.  

Lives like this one.  This is little Katie, 9 years old, before she came home to her Forever Family.

Now, how many times have we all entered a contest where no benefit went to anyone but the winner of the big prize?  How many times have we played the lottery, knowing the odds are against us and it's a waste of a buck if we lose?  This is different, folks, because in this giveaway, no matter who wins 'the big prize' (or, for that matter, the close to 100 other prizes), real children and families will benefit because YOU entered.  And don't forget to share and get extra entries!

A quick update... God is Bigger!

This week, I rented a Veggie Tales audio CD from the library.  I also bought a Veggie Tales coloring book.  Yes, I do have children in this house 9 days out of 10.  But um - I'd be lying if I said I obtained either of those things entirely for them... *snicker*.  Yes, I love Veggie Tales... oh so very much.

One tape is called "Where's God when I'm Scared?" and features a song called "God is Bigger".  It goes a bit like this:


God is bigger than the boogie man.
He's bigger than Godzilla and the monsters on TV.
Oh, God is bigger than the boogie man,
And he's watching out for you and me.


Okay, so the actual tape is about being afraid of monsters, and the dark, but, I say it still applies, and it's been stuck on my mind all week, despite there being a million fabulous Veggie songs to sing... maybe because it's so appropriate.

Earlier I shared with you the plight of the children in one orphanage, the one where little Katie came from.  That post is here.

I asked you to pray.  I asked you to pray that God would move mountains for these children, because although some are coming home, they leave behind them over 200 other children with no one to call Mama or Daddy.  And truly, to get these children the care they so desperately needed (as many of them are in a similar condition to that which Katie was when she came home), HUGE mountains needed to be moved.  HUGE, friends.  Careful decisions had to be made, families had to keep quiet when they wanted to shout from the rooftops, those most intimately involved in the process had to strive for what might seem to some like the unattainable - and yet they persevered.  And the rest of us, we waited fervently on our knees in prayer for these dear children, the least of these, whom God - and whom basic human kindness - has commanded us to help.  Everyone pushed on.

Because they know... GOD IS BIGGER.


And on this day I can say to you, friends, that indeed he IS.  The specifics of the situation are somewhat confusing and better spelled out by Katie's mama Susanna on her blog - please read there if you are interested in knowing more than I am sharing.

But in short - when it was discovered, as many of us suspected, that many more of the children in this orphanage were desperately in need of immediate medical care, particularly hospitalizations and surgeries, that could not be funded in their home country, a medical fund was set up to finance their care - to save their lives.  


What, you might think, could we do, to possibly make a dent in the extensive care needed by the over 200 children remaining in this orphanage?  How could we, half a world away, do anything?

Well, my friends, because... GOD IS BIGGER!


On February 25, the conditions of the children were shared on one mom's blog and the fund was set up.  Today, March 15, NINETEEN DAYS after that post, the Pleven Orphans Medical Care Fund sits at over... are you ready for this?

Are you sure?

$26,000 


Nope, I'm not kidding.  Not one little bit.  Now three more children desperately in need of care have been taken to the hospital for treatment.  Others still have been identified.  Help is still needed.  But I come here today not to ask for your help (although if you are moved to do so, I can think of no worthier cause), but to tell you simply that GOD IS BIGGER!


He makes the impossible, possible.  He rescues those considered 'beyond help'.  He is moving mountains for the children of Pleven.  Won't you join me in witnessing this amazing event?  Won't you stare with me in wonder as lives - lives - are SAVED?  As the unadoptable are listed, one by one, for adoption, and brought to forever families, one by one, until they are all home?  Friends, it is because I love you and I want you to feel the deep sense of peace that I feel watching this spectacle, that I ask you to share in it.  If you are so inclined, pray.  Certainly we can't have too much of that.  If you are not - then just watch.  Watch, and be amazed, at what so many deemed impossible happening right before our eyes.  Yes, see the sadness that was, that existed and still exists in this place - but then see the redeeming joy, and know that this is just the beginning.  That is a joy that will go right to your heart - I know, because sick though I am, I sit here beaming as I write this post.

I will continue to share about these and other children, but in the meantime if you'd like more detailed updates on the children of Pleven, these two blogs, to which I earlier linked, are ones to follow:
The Blessing of Verity:  http://theblessingofverity.com/
Only 1 Mom:  http://www.only1mom.com/

Oh, and yeah - all you Veggie Tales loving mamas, you may send your cards of thanks for the week-long earbug on their way any time ;)

Why International Adoption?

So, I had intended to continue my 'A Heart For Adoption' series of posts with another post about how God has prepared me for the adoption journey - an important one - but right now I feel it important to address the 'Why' before I address the 'How'.  Further, I feel it is important to answer the number one question that has been asked of me in two months (ish) since I've made this decision.  So, this post will seek to answer the question of not only "Why", but "Why adoption" and "Why international adoption."

I'll start with the first - Why adoption?  Why not go the traditional route, get married, have your 'own' kids, why pay thousands of dollars for something you can do naturally?  Don't you want your kids to be "yours"?  Don't you want to pass on your genes?  Is something wrong with you?  Can't you have your 'own' kids?

Well, the answer to those questions is not a simple yes or no.  Because truly, I do want a biological child - if only for the amazing experiences unique to giving birth.  Those are things I've dreamed of since I was a child - yes, even the decidedly unglorious stretch marks, engorgements, labor pains.  I do not want to, and I do not feel the need to give up on those aspirations simply because I have decided to adopt.  Many, many people do both.  I'm going to be one of them, biology allowing.  But to clear a few things up, no, I do not want to give birth to have a child that is "mine".  All of my children will be equally mine, no matter how they came to me.  And no, I do not want to give birth to 'pass on my genes'.  I don't know if you've met me, but I'm a bit of an oddball.  Llama.  Any child bearing my genes (or likely, my rearing)... is probably going to be a bit of an oddball too.  Which is okay.  I like odd.  Narwhals.  (The tourettes is getting worse...)  But I don't have any sort of delusion that my genes are 'superior' to anyone else's, or that I need to continue a biological lineage.  As long as I have children and love to give them (and I have so much of that already!) I will have been successful as a mother.

And as for the question "Can't you have children of your own?" - the short answer is, why yes, I most certainly can.  If I can't conceive them, I can adopt them... and hey, guess what?  They will still be my own.  The longer answer is, well, yes, I have endometriosis.  It's currently unknown whether I will be able to have biological children.  The doctors say everything looks okay for now, but many women with endometriosis can't conceive for reasons that can't be physically explained. I personally believe that the amount of testing, medication and radiation that we are exposed to in the course of diagnosis and treatment contributes to infertility issues.  So, well... I won't know, if I can carry a child, until I try.  But my endometriosis and the uncertainty of my childbearing future is not the reason I have a heart for adoption.  It adds to it, certainly, but I do not wish to adopt simply because I may not be able to conceive.  If I could conceive 50 'healthy' children, I'd still want to adopt.  There's just too much of a need.  Make sense to anyone?

Further, as I stated, there is an immense need for adoption.  There are tens of thousands of adoptable children in the world.  Tens of thousands of children growing up in foster care, orphanages, boarding schools, or worse, mental institutions - simply because they were born with some sort of special need, ranging from sometimes fatal genetic conditions, to simple birthmarks!  Having had my heart prepared for adoption - particularly special needs adoption - as described in three recent posts, having seen their little faces, heard their cries for help, their simple desires for a family... how could I say no?

Take a look at the 292 adoptable children here, in my home state of Ohio:  http://adoptionphotolistingohio.org/browse.php

Listen to this:  These words describe a 15 year old girl, whose desperation for the love of a family is painfully evident.  "[The child] really wants a family to call her own.  [She] really wants to be adopted."


She is fifteen.  Older children are statistically less likely to be adopted and more likely to have serious problems tat require dedicated parental involvement.  To be blunt, people want to adopt babies.  And can you blame them?  Babies are amazing!  Everyone should have the priviledge of loving one.  But our older kids need love too, and our special needs kids, and so many others.  I have love to give.  How can I not put those two puzzle pieces together?




So now, since I have acknowledged the tremendous need for adoption, even within my own state... why, you might ask, don't I do that?  Why not skip the politics and uncertainty and complications of international adoption and adopt locally?  Why not foster?

Once again, there is not a simple answer here - at least not at first.  Because, you see, I do plan to do those things.  Specifically, I plan to be a foster parent, to help children feel loved and wanted and find forever families... and even become some of their forever families, when it becomes clear that this child is a member of our family.  For those who don't understand the foster/adoption dynamic (How do you choose which kids to adopt?  You know you can't adopt them all!), I recommend you read the books Another Place At The Table and One Small Boat by Kathy Harrison.  Her words and experience explain it better than I ever could.

So, the short answer is, I recognize and feel called to that need too, and plan to address it.  But there is something more.  A reason why I'm willing to go through apostilles, UCSIS, international politics, travel, expense, severely delayed children, uncertainty, and many, many things that I am historically uncomfortable with.  And that reason can be stated better in a photo than in words.

This is Ksenia (not her real name).

Isn't she precious?  Perfect little toddler girl.  She has Down Syndrome, and because of this, she has grown up in an orphanage.  Orphanages, or 'Baby Houses' as they are often called, can range from wonderfully stimulating places, to warehouses where children are simply stored.  By Ksenia's condition, it is apparent that her needs are at least satisfactorily met at her baby house.

Who, you might ask, is this poor little hurt soul?

This is Ksenia.  The same girl.  Custom in many Eastern European countries is for children to be raised in baby houses until they are 4-6 years old.  At this time they are transferred to adult mental institutions, where they are housed among others who have been there since childhood, or who are higher functioning and often take advantage of the vulnerability of the smaller children.

This word, 'transfer'... is worthy of a post all its own.  But for the sake of understanding, I will try to condense it here.

Transfer means losing the only 'family' a child has ever known.  The orphanage caregivers who have often been with them from birth, the familiar places, the toys, the lifestyle, the care.  Transfer rips all that away, from a child who has already been either literally orphaned or abandoned at birth.  Further, the children are transferred to horrible places.  Places we would prefer to believe do not exist.  Places we would like to relegate as a relic of a distant past, long before Dorthea Dix came along to reform the care of the mentally ill.  But in other countries... these places still exist.  If you have time, there is an amazing documentary on an institution in one Eastern European country that displays the sad realities of these places - places like the one to which little Ksenia was sent, at only 5-6 years old.  You can find it here.  And you know what?  It hurts to watch.  You'll think about it all day.  You'll probably cry.  But the children in this video, who have already been sent to the institution, have almost zero chance of ever being adopted.  They will live out their entire lives here.  We have the ability to watch this video, think about it a while, then go back to our comfortable lives... or not watch it at all, and pretend these horrors don't exist.  The children and young adults in the video?  They don't have that option.  Don't we owe it to them to at least take notice of their lives?

So what does this have to do with the question I'm answering?

THIS:

Does not happen in the United States.  Sure, foster care is not perfect.  Of course children deserve forever families.  Sure, there are abused and neglected children everywhere.  But the system of widespread institutionalization of people with special needs is, for the most part, a relic of the past, in this country.  We have moved from a system of institutionalization to a system of home-based care.  Children do not spend their short days bedridden, simply because they have Down Syndrome - until they pass away at an early age... in this country.

Katie's Mama, Susanna, expressed my thoughts concisely in a recent post, although her point was slightly different from the one I am making.  I should hope she doesn't mind if I quote her here:

What if you went to visit a family you hadn’t seen for years, and when you got to their house, you found out that the parents had been keeping their children in their beds, away from the public eye, foryears.

What if you found out that they valued their children so little that they had never so much as brushed their teeth, so that their children’s mouths were evil-smelling pits containing dark gray bacteria, coated thickly with discolored yellowish rock?  Swollen, bleeding gums?  Sores on their tongues?

The reeking, horrific condition of their mouths made them so unpleasant as to become socially unacceptable.  Stripped of basic human dignity.

Pronouncing their children unlovable, then causing them to become unlovely by failing to love them.

......

Why is it not okay for parents to treat their children that way, but it is “understandable” for orphanage workers not to find the time in nearly ten years to brush a child’s teeth?? 

Susanna's original post can be found here. It is worth reading, and includes beautiful pictures of her daughter. If you have not yet checked out Susanna's blog, please do.  Katie's story is amazing.  And hers is not the only one.  Stories like hers are tragically commonplace in some countries.  Sometimes, they don't have such happy endings.  Most times.

That doesn't happen here.


Anyone can argue that there are isolated cases of severe abuse and neglect that go unchecked until they come to a tragic end.  These cases occur across the globe.  But the systematic institutionalization of nearly all a country's disabled children and adults, combined with the often brutal treatment they receive... That does not happen here.


And until no child lays her head down to sleep in an institution every night, until no bellies go unfilled because the precious little one was unable to take in the rapid flow of slop from her 'bottle'... under the care of what is supposed to be a government sponsored 'aid' program...

I will want to bring them home.


This little boy, 'Vanya', was, years ago, sent to one of these orphanages - and not a good one - and later an institution.  He was thrown away.  Discarded like trash.  Left to die.  His story is chronicled in a book called The Boy from Baby House 10.

'Vanya' is six years old here.  He is unable to walk and in the 'care' of a mental institution.

This precious boy, only a year younger than myself, has Cerebral Palsy.  Because of this, he was considered an 'imbecile' and 'uneducable'.  While he lived the life reflected in that picture, far away, in the United States, another little girl lived this life:

And why?  Because she was born half a world away.  Because she was born to a family who desperately wanted her, who would have taken her home and raised her no matter what challenges she faced.  Because she was born in a place where prosperity reined, and where there were systems in place to help those who found themselves in dire circumstances. 

How is that fair?  

'Vanya', was what we would consider 'lucky' for a child of his condition in his country.  He was adopted by an American family, brought home, given proper medical treatment, educated, and loved.  He became this boy, named John.

What potential!  Look at that handsome young man that was so misunderstood as a child as to be locked away like a prisoner!  Successful!  Coauthor of a book about his own life, his own struggles!  Doing what everyone said he couldn't do.  Because he was adopted and brought to a place where children with special needs are understood and cared for.  This place.  This country.  

So.  Why adoption?  Why international adoption?  Scroll back up and look at those photos again.  Look at precious Ksenia, and imagine the potential she could have if she were treated properly.  Look at the little girl (me, in case you haven't figured that out), smiling at her baby brother, while precious Vanya suffered in an institution.  Head on over to Reece's Rainbow and look at the faces of countless angels still living that life.  Why international adoption?

Because they're worth it.