Orphan Sunday

It is here again, that day each year that churches of the world are focused on orphans. Adoption and orphan care are very near and dear to our hearts, so I love that this day roles around each year. Last year, we were working hard to save 2 orphans a half a world away. This year, we dedicated those sweet boys, orphans no more! We have seen these once orphans bloom and come alive right before our eyes.

 

 I love orphan Sunday, but I often wonder why do we, as the church, need an orphan Sunday? The Bible is pretty clear about what constitutes pure religion. What does it say for the body of Christ that we can wrap it up in a pretty bow and nice words one Sunday morning a year and then go about our business as usual? Why are there still so many orphans? Why are so few in the church burdened for them?

We brought home 2, but we left behind so many more. Those faces and longing eyes will stay with me forever. While the body of Christ has moved onto the next order of business, thousands upon thousands of those children still wait. I just do not understand. We pray that God will find families for them, and I often wonder if He throws up His arms and says, "I HAVE!!!! They just refuse to see what I have done for them and act!"

 I am going to make a lot of people uncomfortable here. I hope that the cute pictures help a little bit. Church, we NEED to rise up! We need to get uncomfortable for the causes that are near to our Savior's heart! We need to quit believing the lie that we are put on this earth to be comfortable! NO WE ARE NOT! That will come for every believer in heaven, but that is not what our time here on this earth is for. We are here to be His hands and His feet. How are we doing? Right now, we are failing miserably. If we are going to call ourselves followers of Christ, then we need to make sure we are following Christ! We get so caught up in looking cute, finding the right boots and accessories for that new skirt. We get caught up in carpet colors and what songs we are gonna sing in the morning service next week. Meanwhile Jesus' heart breaks and thousands of children fade away. I feel so often that the church is a lot like the disciples who shooed the children away to tend to the "important" things. Church, we are supposed to be Jesus' hands and feet. We need to quit seeking the things of this world and BE His hands and feet. Tobi and Jojo are home and bless us beyond belief, but the orphan crisis remains. We all need to fall on our faces, repent, and ask God what we can do. Then we all need to get up and DO it. If you are waiting for a "calling" before you move, here are the very words of God. 

Psalm 82:3 "Defend the poor and fatherless: Do justice to the afflicted and the needy"

James 1:27 "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."

John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you."

Now, we need to heed the calling, for He has called us all, in His very own words. It is time to be His hands and His feet.

Matthew 19:14 "But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Masterpiece

This masterpiece was the first one created by this masterpiece :)

As we approach the one year mark of the day we stepped onto our adoption journey, I sat back and watched this little miracle color his first picture. I remember many times along the way, looking at the little pieces of the picture I could see God creating and feeling so overwhelmed. I had no idea how anything good could come from the struggle. 

I held on to the promise that God would indeed create a masterpiece, even when I had no idea how in those hard moments and seemingly ugly lines that were visible. I had to let go and ask God for the faith to trust Him in all things.

There were many fears and many doubts over the last year. We watched as the masterpiece was drawn before us, line by line. Some looking horribly out of place, some plain ugly, some absolutely beautiful, and others yet that connected them all together, taking our breath away. As we sit on the other side, I think about the beauty that we would have missed had we decided that the picture before us needed to be balled up and thrown away. If we had not allowed God to continue on with His masterpiece, trusting Him to keep His promise to us.

He who started the work is faithful to complete it! I am so thankful that He allowed us to be a part of this. It was not always easy or pretty, but the outcome has brought us so much joy! I have learned that it is often the shadows that create depth in our relationship with Him.

We are so incredibly grateful that the beauty in our masterpiece is recognizable now. Surely not finished, but it's beauty is shining through. 

Medical Update for Josiah

We are going on 5 months home! A lot has happened in that 5 month span. One of the big changes is that we have made our local Children's hospital our home away from home. I had never walked through the doors before our guys came home. We are making up for lost time now! You may remember that Josiah spent much of his time in Ukraine in the hospital with pneumonia after pneumonia. He was hospitalized again shortly after he got home. At that point, we were connected with a whole group of specialists that promised to get to the bottom of his lung issues. We learned quickly many of the things it was NOT:) They did a swallow study shortly after that and found that he was aspirating quite a lot. His liquids were thickened and he has been healthy and growing like crazy. Along this whole time, he has been followed by ENT and audiologists. Both boys have had fluid in their ears with every test and have failed several hearing tests. After allergy meds did not fix the issue, both boys were scheduled to get ear tubes in and have their adenoids out this morning. Our ENT decided to go ahead with a bronchoscope for Josiah, even though he had already had 2 of them done in Ukraine with normal results. He felt since Josiah was already being put to sleep, that it would be a good chance to see for himself what was going on with his airway. Josiah was taken back into surgery and he did great. The surgeon came out to talk to us about an hour later and told us that the bronchoscope had indeed revealed the probable cause of Josiah's aspiration. The cause of the many many pulmonary infections from the very start. He showed us pictures he took during the test. Josiah has what is called a laryngeal cleft. It is a notch in the wall that is supposed to separate the esophagus and the trachea. This opening allows food/fluid to pass into the airway. His is bad enough to need surgical repair. So, after he is healed from today's surgery, in about 4 weeks or so, he will need to go back again. This time it is more intensive than an outpatient procedure. He will need to spend time in the hospital, possibly the ICU. This scares me so much, but I trust our specialist and I want Josiah to be healthy. Even if he were to drink nothing but thickened fluids the rest of his life, he still has reflux that threatens his health. He spits up literally some of everything he swallows. Food and liquid coming back up is as likely to get into his airway and cause damage and infection as it does going down. And so, I will once again trust God to protect this boy that has completely captured my heart in the last 6 months. I am so thankful for the amazing medical care that we have available right here in our own town. I cannot help but to imagine what even a few more months in Ukraine would have done to our Jojo's health. God's timing is indeed perfect.

We Are Family

We have been home now for over 3 months. It truly feels as though we have been family forever. Not that everyday is easy, there are SO many challenges that we deal with on a daily basis. These boys spent their whole lives outside of a family and a true home. It is a long road overcoming the trauma of abandonment and institutionalization. In all honesty, I did not understand just how effected our boys would be because they were so young when we brought them home. Both are effected very differently, and it is getting better and better. However, both have been effected. That said, there are challenges with raising kids. Parenting is messy and hard no matter how our children come to us or what their history holds. 

This is Tobi the day we met him. A sweet, laid back, baby boy. His head was unstable, his body very limp. He could not sit up unassisted. He was a sweet natured baby boy, but every smile was guarded and very hard to earn. Eye contact was nonsexist in those first days.

I fell in love with this sweetheart the moment I laid eyes on him. I had no idea what his future held, what he could accomplish. What I did know is that he was mine and that I was his.

We witnessed our little guy transform over the weeks that we were staying and visiting him during our court process in Ukraine. He got stronger, began to make eye contact and to smile without our having to break a sweat, and started to vocalize some.

We still could not see what his future held, but we started to see glimpses of the progress he would make.

Look at this sweet boy now, almost 4 months later!

He is sitting, crawling (he prefers army style!), pulling himself up on things, and cruising along furniture. The physical progress is great, but even more is the social progress he has made!

He lights up when we walk into his room! He says, "Mama" on purpose and then laughs at my excitement. He does not just smile and laugh in response to us, but he initiates interaction. He crawls to me for a hug or to show me a toy. He crawls to his siblings, looking to play. He does silly things and waits for a response (and gets so tickled once it comes). He is still the sweet, mostly laid back little man that we met. He is also very different. We've seen him blossom within our family. He has found his place and is so very very loved!

And then there is Josiah. Here he is the day we met. He was so so tiny and his body was so sick, but his spirit was so alive. He sought connection the moment we met him.

He looked in our eyes as if taking us in. It was honestly as though he knew us. He was famous in both hospitals he stayed in during our time in country. He has a personality that draws people to him. As we would walk him up and down the hallway, the other mamas would yell out his name and wave. He'd respond with his amazing smile.

He seemed to know that we were different from very early on. He was very social and very ready to connect emotionally.

His body was so tiny, but so strong. He had great muscle tone, but we were so very worried about his lungs and his heart. Shortly after we got home, he was hospitalized because of very low oxygen levels from a little virus he picked up. After a week in the hospital and many tests and specialists, we had answers and a plan. His lungs were damaged because he was aspirating his formula into his lungs. They had us thicken his formula and changed his nipples and he has been healthy now since.

He now has a healthy body that can keep up with his amazing spirit! He lights up our house! He has become a very big Mama's boy. He prefers to smile at everyone else from my arms :) He also loves his siblings and is especially close to Sam.

I honestly cannot fathom our house without our guys in it! I will not make this out to be just a bed of roses. Let me tell you, these boys are amazing but they come to us with much more baggage than most adults I have known. We love them so very much, but they have issues that cannot just be loved away. Some that will follow them for their whole lives. That said, we are in it. A family does not mean perfection. It means that you are not alone in your mess. It means that there are others that are willing to jump in the hard stuff and wrestle the hurts right along with you. It is called love. And we have a lot of it! 

Mothers Day

Today is a day to celebrate mothers. It may be selfish, but it has always been one of my favorite days of the year. This year, I am torn a bit. I am still SO grateful for my children and for the gifts they make that allow me to glance at their hearts and know they feel loved. I am so grateful to walk into the babies' room in the morning and see the 2 beaming smiles they reserve only for me. I am so thankful that this year they have a mother and are thriving with that love. I cannot help but feel blessed beyond measure. I think that is how it should be, God wants me to be thankful for the blessings He has given to me, and I am surrounded each day with more than I can count. But then, I also have had a year that has changed my heart, that has fully broken it and I am not sure it is meant to be fully fixed. I prayed at the very beginning of our adoption process that God would break my heart with what breaks His. That I would have eyes that would see the broken. And He has answered that prayer. He allowed me to fall head over heels in love with two little boys that had not just been abandoned, but had been cast away with purpose. That I could begin to repair, even if that trauma follows them, I could offer them unconditional love. God went a step further. He allowed to see faces that I would have to leave behind. To spend beautiful moments playing peek a boo with the little boy in the isolation room next to Josiah once he got out of the hospital. To see the joy this little boy got from just a few minutes of eye contact. Spending hours alone in a little room, unable to sit or stand because of severe hydrocephalous. And yet, still so alive and filled with such joy. His smile lit his whole little face by our loving him through a window. I never got to touch him, never even got to enter his room, but his eyes and his smile I pray will never leave my memory. Since coming home, I have learned that this sweet boy has many here fighting for him to get the medical care that could bring him relief. He has not been released for adoption, that is not the answer for him, along with so many others living in orphanages in Eastern Europe. But there are people working hard to change things for children with special needs there. There are people working to change the thinking of birth families and to change the conditions for the children cast away. This mother's day, I am determined to help those people to help the children that will never know the love of a mother. I will be talking a lot coming soon about THIS amazing organization that has helped and is still helping the children in our boys' orphanage and is trying to get medical treatment for this little one that so captured my heart through weeks of smiling through a window.

I think that my life has been forever changed. At least I pray it has. Not that I do not appreciate the amazing family that God has blessed me with, because I so do. But that I will never forget about the motherless hidden away in institutions. I left part of my heart in Ukraine in that orphanage, knowing there are hundreds like it spread throughout the country. My heart breaks for the ones that do not have mommies tonight. The ones that do not even know what a mama is and have never ever experienced what it feels like to be loved and cherished.

Pictures Are Worth a Thousand Words

These ones tell it all! It has been 2 weeks since we got our boys HOME!

We are settling in and finding our new normal

Our new normal could not be better!

Learning how to be brothers

Learning how to smile

and to laugh

Learning that kisses are great

Pondering all the things that have changed

And enjoying every second

Feeling (and tasting) grass for the very first time

And learning how to stand

Life is OH SO GOOD!!!!

Orphans No More

Today is the day that will forever change our lives and the lives of 2 sweet boys that we have fallen head over heels for. I look in their eyes, and see so much! These boys that would have gone forgotten if not for a blurry picture that captured our hearts and propelled us on this journey of adoption. They are no longer forgotten but are true sons! We are not done yet. We have over 2 weeks before we can bring them home with us, but today our motives and means were searched and we were granted the right to become the parents of these two amazing boys. These boys that truly fit perfectly within our family. It is amazing to me how perfectly God's will works! I had a friend send me Isaiah 43:1-7 a few days ago. I have looked at, prayed, and claimed these verses many times over these days of anticipation for our court date. Often with tears for the amazing promises I felt God was giving to us. I have no idea what the future holds for these 2 sons, but I am so very thankful that they now have a future. Many have told us what a blessing we are to the boys. I know that is true. I also know that they are just as much a blessing to us. In the 2 weeks that we have spent getting to know our sons, they have brought such joy to us. I cannot wait to see what God does in their lives. He has His fingerprints ALL over their stories, He will be faithful to complete this work that He has begun. Today Tobias Stepan Quiambao and Josiah Yaroslav Quiambao are orphans no more. They are our sons (and brothers too!)

         Isaiah 43:1-7

           But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel:  "Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.  For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior:  I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.  Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you;  Therefore I will give men for you, And people for you life.  Fear not, for I am with you;  I will bring your descendants from the east And gather you from the west; I will say to the north, "Give them up!"  And to the south, "Do not keep them back!"  Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth.  Everyone who called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory;  I have formed him, yes, I have made him."

When the Dream becomes Reality

For many months, we have dreamt of our boys. We had two pictures and a few sentences to form those dreams on. We prayed that God would go before us and prepare their little hearts for our family. He has answered that prayer in such an amazing way. The reality of these boys is so much better than a dream. To smell their little heads, kiss those sweet cheeks, and to be feel their bodies in my arms. God has opened their hearts for our family. When they brought Tobi around the corner this morning, he gave us a big smile. There was recognition in that smile. He is already figuring out that we are different. I am pretty sure he can tell that we love him. That is foreign to him, but welcomed. They are in a good place, as orphanages go. We have met or at least seen most of the nannies that have cared for him this last year. They are happy that we are there. We saw Josiah for only a few minutes the first day we arrived. He was in the local hospital here because he has had pneumonia on and off for several months. They took him early yesterday to the big city in our region to have some testing done. That hospital has given us permission to visit with him while he is there. We will jump on that offer! The doctor from his orphanage will be going with us on Sunday and will help translate and guide us to him. Here hospitals provide doctors and testing, but families provide food, meds, and diapers. Of course we are happy to provide anything that will allow him to get better so he can come home. They are hoping to get answers as to why he cannot get over this pneumonia. I have a few theories, but I just want him out of there so that we can bring him home when it is time. He is very spunky, strong, and so happy! It is hard to imagine that he has been sick for so long. He certainly doesn't look or act sick. Because we have to hire a driver to take us there and back (and wait for us while we visit) and pay for medicines and such each time, our budget has changed some. If you noticed the thermometer has gone up just a bit, that is why. We were fully funded for the trip, but this will stretch it. Not by a lot as there was some emergency funds already figured in, but some. I will go into more details later, but now it is time to go see our Tobi boy for our daily visit!

You Invited Me In

Six months ago, our eyes were opened to the plight of special needs orphans in Eastern Europe. We knew without a doubt that we were being called to do something. At that point I had no idea what exactly that something might be. God had prepared us for adoption before we had any idea what he was preparing us for. He answered every "but" that we could come up with before we came up with them. The only thing He left unclear was the how. How could we financially complete this calling? He called us to step out in faith and trust Him. I am not going to lie, I had a hard time with this. Panicking comes so easy to me, and this was panic worthy! I would look at the thermometer on each blog post and break out in a cold sweat. I trusted God enough to move forward, but it was so hard not to buy into the fear that Satan knew could be a serious problem for me. I asked some amazing prayer warriors to cover me in this specific area and then I cried out, "I believe, Help my unbelief." And then, I watched a miracle unfold before me. We shared our hearts with our church family. And then we watched the body of Christ, both here at home and all over the world, work and give in ways we never expected. We watched as the thermometer rose. We watched as the body of Christ embraced our future sons in a way that I had only dreamed. We have seen our church stand up and follow God's Word to care for the orphan in a very personal way. We have been enveloped by prayer, love, encouragement, and the most generous giving. We have watched the body of Christ work the way it has been called to work.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ "

It seems so little to say thank you to a group of people that have worked so hard, sacrificed so much, and given much more than we would have ever dared to ask. I know that as much as it means to us and to our boys right here and now, it means even more to the Creator. It has been incredibly humbling to be on this side of the giving. It has allowed us to get to the boys that we love, and it has taught me much about faith in God's promises.

We are so close to our goal. Although it is not completely met, I no longer have panic attacks about it. There is no doubt that God has began this good work and He will be faithful to complete it.

Not Just Any Day

We are another week closer. I am sure that one day, Mondays will be just another day again. For now, however, they mark some very special days. The day that our dreams turned into reality. And the day that we will be sitting down with the authority on adoption in our boys' country and granted permission to meet the boys that have already become sons of our hearts. We will learn their birth names (at least Josiah's, as we have already learned Tobi's). We will learn their birth dates. We will learn about their family histories (This is something we have decided to keep private). We will treasure this information and soak up as much of their family information that we can so that we can answer their questions someday. There have been a few children adopted recently that have some family that visit them in their orphanages. I would love to know that someone has loved these boys. I would love to be able to show their families their progress once they come home. Most of the time, this is not the case, especially for children with Down Syndrome, but these few cases have given me a glimmer of hope. And finally, we will be given permission to meet the boys and move forward with our adoption in their country. This letter will be our permission to see our boys for the first time. I can hardly keep a thought in my head. We are so close! Two weeks from now, we will be preparing to meet our boys!

The Call

Last night was a crazy, sleepless night. Up with one of my twin girls several times because really there is no place a coughing little girl wants to be than with her mommy. Most of the morning was a flurry of activity. The cougher would stay home and rest, but the other sweet girl slept through all of the night's activity and was excited to go to "school". And so the morning was filled with the normal morning running. As we were headed out the door, just a little bit ahead of time, my phone rang. I thought about ignoring it, but figured I should at least check to see who would be calling me at that time. As I glanced at the caller id, I saw that it was our family services coordinator for our adoption. My heart skipped a beat and all the craziness seemed to stop for just a moment. I was hoping for this call, expecting it even, but when it came I panicked a little. Not because I wasn't ready, but because I am so ready. What if this call was bad news? The best thing I can compare it to is that moment that you step into the bathroom to see if there is a positive sign on that first pregnancy test. I pushed the answer button, said hello, and then held my breath. With her first word, I exhaled. I knew that this was the call we had been hoping for. The one that would give us wonderful news. And in less than 3 weeks, we will be boarding a plane and preparing to meet our sons! When instead of dreams, I will finally feel the weight of them in these arms that literally ache. Soon, my sweet boys, you will learn what a mommy and a daddy are. You will know what love feels like. I cannot wait to discover what makes you smile and how you like to sleep.

Please pray for us. Pray for our children as they are left behind. Pray that their hearts will find peace. Pray for their mama too. I have never left my babies. I know that this is necessary and I am so very willing, but it is not going to be easy. Pray for every part of the process from here forward. This is where we step from hard but familiar to completely uncertain and unstable. There are so many things that could go wrong from here forward. We need to cover this thing in prayer! God will write this story, we trust that He will work it all for His glory.

If you would like to donate to help us meet the financial needs of this adoption, please do. All donations given from the donate button on the right side of the post. We are SO close to meeting our goal. We have been so blessed by all of the support that we have received. Every dollar gets us closer to a ransom.

What is in a Name?

I've gotten some questions about our boys' names. Many people are confused about Tobi's name, at least those that have seen his listing on Reece's Rainbow. His name is Fletcher there. That is NOT his birth name. It is illegal for children in Tobi's country to be listed with their birth names and pictures together outside of their country. And so, the team at Reece's gives each child listed an "alias". Josiah was never listed on Reece's. We got to choose his alias when he was added to our family page. We figured we'd cut some confusion and list him under his "new" name.  The names that we call them are names that we have chosen. Names have great meaning in our family. There is a story or special meaning behind each of our children's names. We have chosen names for the newest members of our family in the same way.

Tobias = The Lord is good
Asher = happiness

Josiah = God sustains
Matthew = given; a reward    

Many have asked. We do plan on changing their names. We plan to give them both new names to begin new lives. This was done many times in the Bible to mark important moments or life changes. We think that joining a family in a new country qualifies:)

We recently found Tobi on his country's database. With the help of Google translate, we found out his birth name. It just happens to be a name that was on our list of top 5 baby boy names. Often times children are not called by their names in orphanages. They are often called by common nicknames instead. If we get to our boys' country and find out that they are known by their birth names or that there are strong ties to their birth families in some way, we are definitely willing to reconsider it. As much as we want to provide our boys with a new future, we absolutely do not want to take away their pasts. We want them to have strong ties to their past as well. We want them to have a heart for their people. They will find a future and a family here in America, but they were given life in their country. Our reasoning for changing their names is not to destroy all ties with their pasts. As much as I hate the thought that they are spending their first year in an institution and wish it could have been different, it is a part of their story. God can use their story and will. I want our boys to embrace that, resting in our unconditional love and trusting in their heavenly father.      

Move Toward a Ransom Virtual 5k run/walk

If you know me, you know that I do NOT run. I love working out in almost every other way, but I hate running! I was having a conversation the other day with some friends about their love for running. I said, "I'm not sure I would run to save my life...the only reason I would run is to save the life of one of my children." It was that moment that an idea began to form. I began to get a feel of interest in this, both locally and far away. I have never been in a 5k, I have certainly never thought about planning one before. But I think it is a great idea! Here are some basic questions/answers.

Q. When will this event take place?

A. Our local event will be at 2pm on Sunday, February 17, 2013. If that time or date don't work for you, you can participate anytime you want. I would love to have pictures emailed to me to add to our boys' Bring Me Home book whenever, where ever you do participate.

Q. Who is this for?

A. It is for anyone anywhere! The possibilities are endless! We will have a local gathering here, but you can register online and run/walk anywhere. You can run alone or get your own group of friends together and run wherever you are. If you can't run, walk! You can walk alone or with a group! If you cannot make it for the whole distance, that is okay too! Just go as fast and as far as you can! We are moving toward a ransom!

Q. How much is registration?

A. We will be asking for a $25 donation to our adoption grant for each adult participant. That will get each adult a tee shirt and a wrist band. These items can be picked up the day of the event at our location for those participating locally. I will mail these items to those that do not live near. All registrations must be submitted by Friday, 2/8/13, in order to insure tee shirts will get here in time. Registration will remain open until the day of the event, but I cannot guarantee tee shirts BEFORE event day if registering after 2/8.

Q. How do I register?

A. Click HERE to register. After you fill out your registration, you can pay your registration fee through the donate button on the right side of the blog. Then, just email the receipt of donation to bringmehometobi@gmail.com