2 Steps Forward!

This weekend we had our first home study visit and received our dossier! It is just 2 small steps forward but important ones in bringing Olivia home. Right now I feel overwhelmed with the paperwork and all that needs to be done. It's amazing how particular everything has to be down to the color of ink that you use. We are prepared that there will be mistakes and are thankful for the wonderful ladies at Reece's Rainbow who are guiding us through this process. I just keep telling myself to take it one document at a time!

What does it really mean to be in an institution?

I've mentioned before that Olivia was due to be sent to an institution. Back in December a family was there and they told me that Olivia's baby house was for children ages 2-4. Since she was at the top of that age spectrum, and they were running out of space with other little ones coming in behind her, they were beginning to discuss her transfer. This is not uncommon as most children are transferred around age 5. This family begged them to keep her longer so they could try to find her a family. But why? What does it really mean to be sent to an institution?

The other day I jumped onto the website of a family who had adopted a little girl with CP from the same country as us. I was scrolling down learning a bit about their time home with her when I came upon some pictures of Reece's Rainbow kids who needed families. She had listed them in December in hopes that someone would see their child in those eyes. Imagine my surprise when as I scrolled down I was met with the eyes of Olivia! This was written under her picture:

If nothing changes, each of these specific children will soon be sent to live in an institution where they will be confined to a bed. Most sent to the institution die soon after. There is not adequate nutrition or medical attention and there is most certainly not adequate stimulation, attention, connection, or love... This is not a life, even for those who manage to survive. I see glimpses of this existence any time Mary reverts back to her self-soothing rocking pattern. It aches so deep within me to see her do that (which is rare and if she does begin again, we stop her immediately, reminding her: "You have a Mommy and Daddy to rock you now, baby, you don't have to rock yourself... ever again"). The ache is for her past, yes, but also for the present and future of SO MANY like her.

I recently found a report from The Today Show that featured Serbian institutions. Olivia is not in Serbia but this will give you an idea of what so many of the beautiful children in Eastern Europe are facing. It is a harsh reality and I'll warn you that you will need a tissue:

There are so many more out there like Olivia and some won't have a family come to take them away. I can't tell you how it kills me to see the faces of all of the waiting children on Reece's Rainbow's website. Each of them is so beautiful and has so much to offer a family. I truly believe that we are the ones who will be blessed beyond measure because of this little girl's place in our lives. Everyday is a day closer to Olivia and we just can't wait. Please pray for our funding and for all of the details of our paperwork to come together quickly!

More updates

We got notification today that Reece's Rainbow received our inital paperwork and in the next few days we should be getting a whole new load of paperwork! They will also create a profile for us where donations to our adoption can be made directly through them. 100% of all donations will go toward our adoption.

I forgot to mention in my last post that we were told to prepare to bring her home in August! We have the first visit for our home study next Saturday the 16th and just got landed with a bunch of paperwork for that too which those of you who have adopted understand.

Yesterday I had a long talk with a new friend named Ellen who just got home from bringing her beautiful daughter home from the same orphanage! Her daughter, Nina, and Olivia were friends in the orphanage and both have CP. Ellen has been such a blessing to us. We learned all kinds of information about Olivia's personality and what to expect when we are over there. They live in Iowa and we intend to meet after Olivia is home so that the girls can be reconnected. We also decided yesterday that her middle name will be Valerie for Larry's sister. Her real first name is very clearly from her country so we liked that she will have a name that connects her to her heritage and a name that connects her to our family.

The most common phrase in our house right now is "I can't wait to meet her!" If only she knew how much she was loved by a family half way across the world!

The Journey Begins

We are excited to tell you that we are in the process of adopting a 4 year old girl from Eastern Europe! Olivia has mild Cerbral Palsy that only affects her legs. She does not walk independently but does pull up and cruise furniture. We have been very blessed to be connected with a family who just returned from her orphanage who has given us tons of information about her! We know that at her age and in her country she was nearing the time when she would be sent to an institution. The statistics after that are grim to say the least. Olivia is precious, as you can see below, and we are told she is a cuddle bug who desperately wants a family. God clearly called us to a special needs adoption awhile ago and were prepared to start training through the state of Arkansas, but little did we know He had other ideas! We were on one path and rather quickly God plucked us off of that path and stuck us on the one marked "international". Before we had time to say "Wait! That's not the path we were on!" He introduced us to our daughter and then we really didn't care anymore where the path was leading! We will continue to use this blog to share our progress through this journey.

I will add that her country requests anonymity. All I can say on this blog or on Facebook at this time is that she is from Eastern Europe and I will also tell you that Olivia is not her actual name but is the name given to her by the organization that we are working with. If you are a person who we have told privately more than this please do not post that information in any comments. Thank you!

If you are interested in learning more about the organization we are working with you can find them at www.reecesrainbow.com. Their goal is to place children from overseas who are facing institutionalization because of their disabilities. The majority of their children have Down Syndrome but they also have what they call "other angels" who have other disabilities. This is where Olivia was listed....now she's under the section that says "My family found me" :).

Prayer

I loved this prayer from our study of "Cat and Dog Theology" in community group last night and thought I'd share it with you:

Lord, we do not live for ourselves, we live for Your greatest glory.
Bless us with all things or give us nothing.
Honor us before others or bring us low.
Put us to doing or appoint us to suffer.
Give us work or keep us unemployed.
Send us overseas or keep us home.
Shatter any dream that is not yours.
We freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.
All we ask is that we delight in Your glory!

I'll tell you what. Pray a prayer like that and get ready to see God work. I remember doing that about 5 years ago and look where we ended up :)!

A funny memory...

I was just remembering a time a few years ago when Evan was little and I was teaching him to say thank you for each gift after he received it NO MATTER WHAT! I had learned this the hard way with Clayton. Being a new mom it never occurred to me that I would need to train him to respond with thankfulness to each of his gifts. Imagine my horror one year when after one gift he yelled "I DON'T LIKE THIS!" and after seeing a gift Evan had received he yelled "HE ALREADY HAS THAT!" Needless to say that was taken care of by the time his birthday arrived! So back to my story....Evan is little and we are "practicing" responding to our gifts. It goes something like this:

ME: "No matter what gifts you get, what do you say?"
Evan: "Thank you"
ME: "What if you don't like it? What do you say?"
Evan: "Thank you"
ME: "What if you already have it? What do you say?"
Evan: "Thank you"
ME: "What if it is pink barbie undewear? What do you say?"
Evan: Sits for a long time and you can see him processing this. After awhile he responds with a smile "No thank you!"

I still laugh when I think about that!

I share that with you to also tell you that I am reading a fantastic book called Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Even we need to "train" ourselves to respond in gratitude to God for each and ever gift NO MATTER WHAT! I highly recommend it!

A Piece of My Heart

Is there something that God has given you a heart for unlike anything else? A particular cause or group of people that you can stand behind with every fiber in your being. For some it is breast cancer, or the homeless, or animals. For me it's people with special needs. When I was a child my neighbor gave birth to a beautiful girl with cerebral palsy. Before I was even old enough to babysit I would go over there and keep an eye on that sweet girl while her mom took a nap after a long day of work and eventually I started babysitting her. So started my journey. When I was in 6th grade I volunteered over the summer at a preschool that had many children with various special needs. At 16 my first job was as a camp counselor. I was so excited to spend the summer with my friend who also got the job. At orientation they mentioned that they needed counselors for their special needs camp. That's all I needed to hear and I volunteered to transfer to that camp. What amazing experiences I had that summer! When it was time for consideration for colleges there was no question that I would pursue special education. I'd never considered anything else (except maybe deaf education but close enough). During college I held various jobs, one of which was at a home where three mentally disabled girls lived, and the organization I worked for provided round the clock care for them. Unfortunately it wasn't the best place to work but certainly not because of the girls. I eventually needed to leave because of the way some things were handled but still learned a TON!
OK I really got blabbing there but all of this is to say that I've discovered a ministry that I want to share with you that reflects my heart. Reece's Rainbow is a ministry that helps find families for Down Syndrome children(primarily..but also other children with disabilities) in orphanages overseas. In these countries children with disabilities are considered worthless. They are put in orphanages until they are about 4 at which time they are moved to institutions. After that point they can no longer be adopted. Many die with the first year, most by age 10. I get choked up just typing this....that is a piece of my heart and it kills me. I've prayed and prayed and God hasn't clearly told me that there is a way for us to adopt one of these children so I'm telling you about it so that you can see what God tells you ;). The sweet baby on the right is Sophia and she is a Reece's Rainbow child.
But you know, as I type this I realize that the United States isn't always much better. Did you know that there is about a 92% abortion rate in pregnancies with Down Syndrome children? Appalling isn't a word strong enough for that statistic. Oh Lord, that you would give me the privilege of doing something about this for your glory, would be an honor!