Where do I start??? Part 2

In my very first post, I shared about how our journey to adopt Elijah was like 2 different paths coming together at the same time. I shared about Path #1 and the mission trip that prepared our hearts for the disabled and forgotten people of Eastern Europe. Path #2 is very different, but is much more directly related to this adoption. 

I couldn't even tell you when I first met Michelle. Sometime before 2005 I know. We were in a direct sales company together (both of us have since retired).  She was always such a joy to be with because of her infectious laugh and always positive attitude! :-) So, life was happening both of us and I heard she was expecting twins!  How fun and cool is that! And 2 girls too! At that time, we had 3 girls and 1 boy at our house, just like she would. But, I didn't see her much while she was pregnant...I guess being pregnant with twins can be a bit tiring. :-) But then the email came in early May of 2007.  Michelle had had her precious girls but one of them didn't make it. She was stillborn.  And the other was doing ok, but was suspected of having Down Syndrome. I cried for her and cried some more. I think I cried for 2 or 3 days. How completely heart breaking. I was crying for her loss -sweet Lydia that was never held alive by her mama or daddy. I knew how painful early miscarriage was - I couldn't imagine the depth of her pain.  And to be honest, I was crying for the Down Syndrome that Ruby had too. See, I didn't know anyone or any families with a child with DS. I had had at least one of my children during my "advanced maternal age" (over 35) and of course, I was warned about the potential risks of DS as I was getting older. If the OBs were telling me that there was risk, it must be "bad", right? So, that was my viewpoint at that time in May of 2007.

I'm so thankful that Michelle started a blog chronicling her family's journey with a child with Down Syndrome. This was my first experience with blogs too.  It was lots of fun!  Michelle was, and continues to be, a great advocate for DS awareness. I would often click over to links she shared or had on her sidebar. I learned things like it is "Down Syndrome" not "Down's Syndrome". I read the story about arriving in Holland instead of Italy (an allegory about having a child with special needs unexpectedly), and whole bunch of other things. And that little Ruby! She was/is so stinkin' cute! I could hardly stand it! I just couldn't stay away. I had to keep coming back to see what she was doing next and another cute photo or video of her.  Over the first couple of years, thanks to Michelle and her diligent blogging and advocacy, my own personal awareness and acceptance of DS was growing a lot. That awareness grew for my own children too. They would often look over my shoulder at the cute photos of Ruby.  Sometimes, they would even ask to see her if I didn't have it up.

I began to feel the Lord was preparing me for a child with DS. At a women's retreat, I remember writing a letter to the Lord that I would surrender everything to Him...that I would let Him have His way with my life, no matter what. (I will fully admit that I took it back many, many times, and still do.) I also remember thinking that this might mean our next child might have DS...and I was OK with that. Three months later, I found out we were expecting our 5th blessing! We were all thrilled! Again, I felt the Lord preparing me.  But Sweet Baby R was born with just two 21st chromosomes, not 3. Things were fine.

When SBR was just a month or so old, Michelle announced on her family blog that they were adopting a very special girl from EE with DS. I was so thrilled for her!  Sweet Lily would never replace Lydia, but she was a twin that was abandoned at the hospital while her "healthy" twin was taken home. It was SO meant to be for them. So, now, I had 2 blogs to follow. Fun! Michelle had mentioned Reece's Rainbow on her family blog earlier in the year, but now I heard all about it. What an awesome ministry RR had in raising awareness about these beautiful, sweet kids that were rejected because they were "genetically enhanced". They needed homes before they were sent away to mental instituitions! And Michelle and Brian were going to bring one of them home! I will fully admit that the thought of adoption for us NEVER crossed my mind at that time. The kids and I followed along on the journey to bring Lily home. When they first met Lily, we would check every morning to see if any new photos were posted of her sweet face.

Sorry, this is getting long...almost there. So, by now, we were very familiar with RR and the work they were doing. In fact, when Lily's adoption process first started, my oldest daughter Sarah, being a new blogger herself, started following the blogs of several RR families...like the one of my now state side paperwork helper! Cool, huh? I remember having a conversation with a friend that had recently adopted two girls from Africa. She said she had always had a heart for adoption and that maybe God was planting seeds in Sarah's heart for this type of adoption someday. Little did I know this spring that the Lord was preparing MY heart too.

Now, I finally am bringing the two paths together for you. (If you are still reading, thank you!) I was looking at the RR website, pouring over all the sweet faces, doing "research" for Pat and Sarah's mission trip. We knew they would be visiting orphanages and possibly see some of these beautiful children in their particular EE country. (RR has kids listed from all over EE and now all over the world!)  Then I saw his picture.  His name was Aloysha. His eyes pierced my soul. The Spirit of God spoke to me and I just knew we needed to bring him home.  I can't explain it any better than that. I would stare into his eyes. And he seemed to have some familiarity about him. I never did put my finger on it, but after we shared his photo with close friends and family, at least 3 of them independently said he looked like he could belong in our family, for whatever reason. Only God could do that. For 3 or 4 days I kept this "conviction" to myself. That first night, I woke up thinking about him. I prayed and prayed.  I asked the Lord to take this away from me if it wasn't from Him. It got stronger and stronger. I would sneak on the computer during the day to gaze into his eyes. I finally shared my heart with Pat. He was surprised at the timing with SBR being so young, but he also shared that he knew adoption would someday be part of our family. He never told me that before!  I asked him to pray about it and together we would discern if this was what the Lord was telling us to do. After what seemed like an eternity a few days, Pat agreed this was the Lord's call on our life. OK, Lord! Here we go!!!!  We are taking a huge leap of faith to bring him home! This is all SO new for us in SO many ways. While I have learned a lot about DS over the past 3 years, I've never parented a child with DS. We've never obviously adopted before. We've never purposely cleaned out our savings account before. So many unknowns, but so many opportunites for God to reveal Himself to us. God is FAITHFUL! To Him be all the glory, honor and praise! This is going to be the ride of our lives! Care to tag along? :-)