In Another's Shoes

I learned recently of a group of mamas that follow Reece's Rainbow and the children listed there. I have met many women since we started this journey who have a heart for the precious little ones listed for adoption. They pray for, cry for, and hurt for these sweet children. Only this group of women is different. They are watching, waiting, and yearning in a way that no one else possibly can. They are doing these things from the other side. They are a group of birth mothers half way around the world. My heart hurts for these women. I wonder about our boys' birth mothers. Are they part of this group of women? Torn between love for a child she so desperately wants and the knowledge that they cannot provide for his needs in a country that refuses to see his worth. Do they regret walking away? Do they think about and pray for their sons? Do they wish it could be different?  Do they read about us and our journey? Up until this point, I could not fathom the hardheartedness it would take for a mother to walk away from the child that grew within her. To be able to waive her title and rights away and to walk out of the hospital knowing what would soon happen. A quick google of Special needs orphans in  Eastern Europe yields some horrific things. I cannot fathom willingly allowing my child to be taken there and then continue to live my life. There are many in Tobi and Josiah's country that do this. However, I am finding out that there are others that do not just forget when they walk out of that hospital. They sign their rights away to free their child for international adoption. They watch, wait, and hope that someone a half a world away would be drawn to and choose their child. To save them from a future of life lived in an institution. To give them the hope of a society that can provide opportunity and a future. I do not know if Tobi and Josiah's families are among these. Hoping and praying. I do not understand, but my heart has been softened. I can say that I would not do it, but I have also spent my life walking in American shoes, knowing a God of love. I am choosing to love and pray for our boys' families. Whether they have walked away and forgotten these children that we love dearly or are out there watching and hoping for their futures, my heart hurts for them. I do not know if their choice was a selfish one or the most selfless one a mother could make. Either way I could not imagine making it. They chose to give our boys life when they could have easily sought abortion. They gave them a future when they made them available for adoption. I wish that things could be different. I pray that this country begins to see the value and worth of every child as so many families seek them and sacrifice to redeem them. I pray that God would use us and the many others He has called to walk the same path toward their own sweet ones. That they would begin to understand the love of a God that longs for them. A God that loves them. Only once this God is known can their society change. Only once they begin to see and to believe what real love is can that love begin transforming a nation. I hope our boys'  birth mothers love them, because they are worth loving. They are a gift, just as every life is. I pray that our boys' mothers see them this way. I may never know. I do know that behind these children that have so captured our hearts are families and stories. It is heartbreaking.