Sunday Spotlight

Another week has come and gone and I'm sleepy.

It's the time of year that brings a lot of illness which translates to late nights for moms, dads, and kiddos alike. The good thing is that everyone seems to be on the mend as I write this and lots of hugs and snuggles were doled out alongside good food and some good old cough syrup and vicks depending on the day and person who was down.

Everyone once in awhile it hits me that for each face on Reece's in a child who doesn't have someone to sit up with them until the wee hours of the morning when they're sick or scared. There just isn't the resources in some places despite the amount of care and in others there isn't even that. So we keep sharing, and shouting, and praying, and hoping that one day each of these precious kiddos will find a family.


First up is Mila

So young to be listed which is such a blessing. Mila has been diagnosed with Arthrogryposis a condition affecting the joints. Both A White River and Micah 6:8 talk about their amazing kiddos who live with this condition for those who are unfamiliar with it.

Next is Byron

Byron is a  sweet little guy who is facing transfer soon as his current facility is transitioning roles. This is sad as the staff sound very involved and pro-adoption where he was not to mention his home and friends. It would be wonderful for him to find a forever home.

Stacey

Look at the life in those eyes. Stacey has some delays but is also in a space where therapy is available and she is quite determined in her efforts. Stacey is reported to be a friendly little girl who loves playing with her friends.

Finally we have Sophia

Sophia goes to school and can communicate. However she does struggle with more in depth communicating. She is listed as having scoliosis and mental delay.

Waiting

Life in the first few months after a diagnosis with autism is like some weird race that isn't sure what it's doing.

When you're first starting out it can be fast or slow as you make appointments and chase down evaluations.

Then you wait.

Then there are more evaluations.

Then you wait.

Then maybe a diagnosis. Yay, things can happen now.

Like waiting or allowing time to pass before the next thing happens (a.k.a. more waiting).

You wait for phone calls, return calls, paperwork that makes you apologize to the trees and give thanks for computers.
 You get put on wait lists where people are apologetic for the 1-2 year wait while reasserting how important early intervention is.
You wait for the (seemingly crazy) lady on another line to stop telling you how it's impossible to have a diagnosis at 2 so that you can tell reaffirm your child's diagnosis well reminding them how nice it is that you can "start" on that early intervention.

You see more people  so you can wait some more.

I don't actually like waiting because what waiting doesn't show is the life that still has to happen while you and your family wait for the next appointment or the next strategy or the next idea that may or may not help. Yeah, that's the other thing sometimes after all that waiting the appointment doesn't actually offer any help and you wait for the next one.
It's hard because life already seems a bit like a one step forward, two steps back, three to the side, with a pirouette thrown in for a good measure.
Sometimes this process feels like it was designed by one of the choreographers on So You Think You Can Dance (and believe me I am well aware of how uncoordinated I can be depending on the day).

Waiting is hard.

Sunday Spotlight

I've been meaning to write the last two Sundays but I've had the most wonderful problem. Every time I found a child to highlight they moved right on over to the My Family Found Me. So, here we go again (and cross our fingers this trend continues!)


First up is Victoria

Victoria appears to be a sweet young girl who has had adoption explained to her and would like a family. However, Victoria is getting close to aging out in her country (december 2016) and needs a family to step up soon. Her diagnosis affects her mobility and families should be open to a different diagnosis with further examinations. She loves to sing, draw, the colour pink, and cats (girl after my own heart here)

Next is Waniya, a face who's been on RR long enough to be familiar.

8 years old and a new picture with a beautiful smile and she's sitting up! Waniya has CP, vision issues, and mixed developmental disorders. She looks like a fun addition to the right family.

Last up is Nikkita

Nikkita just celebrated her birthday in January and has been waiting for a family a long time. She has CP and developmental delay including speech issues (speech paths are lovely people to work with though). Quiet, she loves playing with dolls and learning lots.

Each of these girls are unique and precious. All of them are looking for their families. If you have a minute please share these girls. Even if you aren't their family maybe your share could be the one that starts the ball so that next year their birthdays will be around family tables instead of another day of waiting.

Sometimes you're tired

I told my husband at Christmas time that I was done.

I was tired of cheering on orphans in the background and when I had time on here. I was tired of watching kids wait year after year. I was tired of watching kids move to "In Loving Memory". I was tired of watching the faces of little girls I would love to be a Mama too and can't. Sometimes the pain is too much and besides I'm only one little voice that's barely a whisper who will notice if I fade back into the vastness of the internet.

But the someone wrote this and then people on social media started sharing too,

Things like

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Gal 6:9

 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good. 2 Thess, 3:13

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that the work that you do for the Lord isn't wasted. 1 Cor 15:58

It was relentless, Eventually, even I can take a hint, so I stayed. I saw the faces, I prayed, we finished out Angel Tree but I refused to blog. I'm funny that way I can be so stubborn and refuse to do what I know I should. I know these kids need shared, I know these kids need loved and shouted for, prayed for and shared.

Writing scares me though. I'm an introvert and I'd rather have a root canal than face a barrage of conversations, writing is my strongest form of communication, it's a natural extension of myself. This means sometimes my heart slips through in ways I don't want to share because it's scary and vulnerable. So, when I'm low I avoid it or, at least, I avoid sharing lest pieces of my heart slip through into the scary world.

So why am I writing? My heart still aches for all the reasons it did when I said I was done. I still grieve the children I knew only through pictures who did not make it. I grieve the lost potential of the children who sit and wait.

But I know it is far better to be obedient and write even if it hurts because the pain of doing nothing in disobedience is far worse and the risk is worth it.

If a try and fail at least I've tried. If I try and reveal my heart even in brokenness it is a chance to grow. If I try and am not heard I may not yet know where this leads.

In the end I've tried and surely these kids are worth trying for.

Ginny

Tarsha

Merida

Tara

Kirk