Why Not?

I know I've already tried to explain myself to help those of you who just cannot wrap your mind around why we would want to adopt a child with Down syndrome, but I'd like for you to read something. Remember the Urban Family? They adopted little Ava from Ukraine. During their time in Ukraine, Ava's Daddy kept a blog so everyone could see their journey from a man's perspective. Today, he blogged about how he came to accept his wife's request for them to adopt a child with Down syndrome. Before Ava, they were a family that had all typical kids, so Down syndrome was obviously something totally outside of their realm of normalcy. Here is what he wrote ...

When Charissa came
to me and asked me, "Can we adopt a little girl
with Down Syndrome?". I didn't say anything. I just thought.

Then she said, "... there is a little girl in Ukraine that needs a family." I didn't say anything except.. mmmm.

I began to go over and over in my mind how MY life would change. How would this affect ME. What if this happened what if that happened. How would this little girl integrate into our family?

So, here is a list of questions I asked, prayed over and meditated on for several days:
- This is a huge commitment
- Will she talk, eat, walk
- What will Word of Faith folks think of me having a child with a disability
- How will my life change with this little girl
- Will my kids accept her
- Will my kids rebel
- Will my kids be safe while I am half way across the world
- Can I afford this
- and many other thoughts

Then I had this thought.. What is this little girl thinking:
- When is my daddy going to come kiss my neck and throw me in the air?
- When is my daddy going to come help me get my eyes fixed?
- When is my daddy going to help me learn how to eat, walk, talk?
- When is my daddy going to take me out of this crib and put me on his shoulders?
- When is my daddy going to hold me close at night before he puts me to bed?
- When is my daddy going to tell me he loves me?
- When is my daddy coming to get me? Why's he taking so long? I'm ready!

God defends the orphan! He will defend me and my family..

What a blessing little Ava has been in my life! I just cannot imagine life without that little girl. Jesus will increase your ability to love every child you bring into your home. He'll work miracles in your heart and in the hearts of a whole lot of other folks too.

Don't be afraid to LOVE! Love heals.

The Impact of Adoption

I was talking to my friend McKenna (my long lost twin and an amazingly supportive person, by the way) a couple weeks ago and she was saying how amazing it is that you can be touched so deeply by watching someone adopt a child. I totally agreed with her and told her that I might not be where I am if I had not become so encompassed with the adoption journey of the Urban Family.

Prior to beginning the Urban's journey, they had four typical children. They decided that they wanted to open their hearts to a child with Down syndrome and committed to adopt Ms. Ava from Ukraine. She was four years old when they got to her and she had lived in a crib her entire life. She was a tiny little girl and did not have many skills. After getting to Ukraine and seeing Ava's condition, it took a huge heart to accept her for what she was and to understand that she had potential. That is exactly what the Urban's did. I think watching them fall in love with a child with Down syndrome, something that had previously been outside of their norm, is what got me so interested in their journey. Since being home, Ava has absolutely flourished and is impacting people everywhere!

So, that is one reason that I believe I became even more interested in adoption. Seeing someone go through it first hand and come out of it with such success. During my conversation with McKenna, she went on to say that we will impact people during our journey, and so on and so forth. Amazing to think that these babies might get homes just because we blog about our experiences.