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It's Orphan Sunday today and I am bursting at the seams to introduce you to our newest son!!!
I announced last week that we have been moved by God to adopt again, and we are branching out into a scary new special need: cancer.
And the questions began…so let me offer up some details!
As of last week, we have officially been approved by his home country to adopt him!
He currently lives in an orphanage that partners with Half the Sky in a provincial city in China.
He is almost 2 years old. (He will be our caboose!)
He is adorable. (and we know we are a bit partial!)
He will be given the English name Gable. (Daddy named him!) Gable is an awesome name we've never heard ever (yes!!) and it means "Strong man of God."
Perfect.
And now…for his pictures:
These were the first I ever saw…the ones that Toby exclaimed, "Oh Mommy! I LOVE him!" about.
It is this non-smiling picture that I realized he was ours. That face. That sweet, sweet, uber precious face!!!!
Gable was only 14 months old in these pictures. Since then, there was a visit to his orphanage where I was able to grab this picture from the end of a video where he smiled. This was taken just this past August at 19 months of age:
WHAT. A. CUTIE. PATOOTIE. (I know!!)
So, now you have a face for whom to pray. And we will begin fundraising ASAP!
The other question people want to know is WHEN. We pray that we could get all our clearances and funds to bring him home during the summer next year. Please join us in this prayer.
So happy to have yet another orphan on his way home to his FOREVER FAMILY!!! My arms are aching to hold and snuggle this precious one!
What does it take for God to take us from a place of selfishness comfort to move into a realm of discomfort and unknown where things are intimidating and downright scary?
Sometimes, it just takes a child.
Jovia Richards was that child for me.
Without her, we would not have Toby as our son. And Esty would not be on her way here.
Let me back up.
We had already brought Zeb home from Uganda, and we were attending a conference called More 4 Orphans at the Vineyard in Columbus, Ohio.
I was hoping to meet Wess Stafford of Compassion (I did!) as well as a few of my favorite online friends from Project Hopeful and also Salem Richards, who has adopted 3 special needs children from Uganda.
I also was looking forward to meeting Nicolle Bompart whose husband had just died a few months prior from a gunshot wound while serving orphans in Haiti. I just had to meet this amazing woman! I attended her breakout session for the purpose of meeting her. The subject of the breakout? Special needs adoption. She even said, "If you are here, it's because God is doing something in your heart to adopt a special needs child," and I thought, "well, not me, I'm just here to meet you..."
Little did I realize that she was RIGHT!
After her session, I found my friend Salem and delighted in a hug. I quickly realized, she had come to the conference WITH her children. And here was her daughter Jovia...who was born without arms and without legs.
Smiling at me.
With dimples.
Before I could think, I heard myself ask if I could hold her.
"Of course!" was the reply.
My heart raced as I bent down to scoop her up. A million thoughts raced through my head. Emotions flooded my heart, emotions that are now untraceable.
But when I held her, felt her warmth and watched her take her teeth to play with my conference name tag, I felt something move.
It was as big as a planet moving off it's orbit.
I came unglued.
All my previous thoughts of why I personally would never consider a special needs child simply crumbled. This warm, sweet, happy girl was changing me. On the spot.
All the "why nots" left.
I suddenly only saw her. Jovia. A priceless treasure. A person.
And really, that's what needs to happen.
We need to see the PERSON,
not the CONDITION,
not the SPECIAL NEED,
not the DIFFERENCE.
We come to realize these children are really like any other child.
Any other orphan.
Or maybe, just maybe, they are even more special...because they have been rejected time and time again...for reasons far beyond their control.
Jesus loves the unlovable. "The least of these," He calls them.
Precious children!!!
What I've come to find out is that they are only perceived as the "least of these." In actuality, they are TRUE TREASURES that bring deep joy to families who say YES to them.
And they change you too. In such good ways.
So often people say things to me like, "Oh I could never do that!" when they hear we are adopting yet another child and this one being in a wheelchair.
I answer, "Oh I cannot either! But Jesus will use me to love and minister to this child in ways I cannot yet anticipate!"
This is what Jovia gave me.
A new willingness.
An interest in special kids.
A desire to parent those whom before I thought were for "other people."
I began looking for who it might be that God would have me love.
And then I "stumbled" onto the blog post where I read about "Bo" who became our Toby.
And the rest? Well, I'd like to say it's all history...
...but it's still in process!
But it IS history: His-story.
God's story of working in and through me to love and parent needy children.
What a wild adventure of walking with Him in places I never thought I wanted to go! But as I follow Him there, I find such great joy that I only want to press deeper in and find more of Jesus!
Want in?? I sure can understand why!!!
Now sit here a little longer and delight in the awesome video The Archibald Project made on my friend Salem and her precious family! Who knows how Jovia might minister to your heart through this!
The Richards Family Adoption Story from
The Archibald Project on
Vimeo.
When we went to Uganda to bring our Zeb home, we met many other children. There were 50 orphans in his orphanage alone. Many babies, many toddlers.
I had the privilege of holding, singing, praying for and giving bottles to a very special orphan.
She was only 6 pounds at ONE YEAR old.
Yes, you read that right.
She was kept in a crib in the far corner. She had to fully depend on the mercy of the mamas in the orphanage.
A sweet precious life that was valued by my precious friends, Dwight and Linny Saunders. They said YES when the director of the orphanage skyped them and asked if they really meant they would to ANYTHING for this child. Would they adopt her into their family for life?
The Saunders said YES.
They named her Ruby Grace. A precious jewel.
Not forgotten.
Not discarded.
Treasured.
Loved.
Desired.
Spoken for.
The Saunders went back to Africa and scooped up Ruby and brought her home. They relocated their family so they could be near medical facilities to treat Ruby.
And how they have been abundantly blessed by their YES to care for this treasured orphan!!
Just look at the picture she posted of Ruby now---
WHAT?!?!?!
Are you amazed???
Yes! This really is the very same child.
Look what love does!!
Look what God can do through a willing family!
God has performed AMAZING miracles in Ruby's life! In fact, they are so numerous I cannot begin to recount them!
But her mama can! And SHE DOES!!!
Hop over to A Place Called Simplicity to read about the miracles upon miracles they've been blessed to watch God perform in Ruby's treasured life.
What a joy it is to watch!!
*Sidenote: Want to witness such miracles in YOUR life? Do you feel God calling you to adopt? Don't want to wait forever on a match? PLEASE consider the special needs waiting orphans around the world. They are depending on someone like YOU to take a huge leap of faith (into the amazing CAPABLE arms of Jesus) and save them from the corners of orphanages.
There are waiting lists of children available on the internet. Wonderful Waiting Kids is a site where you register and see pictures, stories and videos of waiting children. Adoptable Waiting Child is another site. These are children who have been passed over and forgotten by most. Please consider them. They have no voice to call your attention to them. Please, be open. God will empower you to do the unimaginable. ...and when He does, it is miraculous!!!
Sometimes, it just takes a child.
