Following His Lead: Our Story

I have often thought about adoption. I have felt the need to help care for the orphans of the world. Have you ever looked at the pictures of orphans on your state's family services website? I used to lose sleep at night with these images in my head. I have prayed for orphans to find homes. Prayed that God would place these precious jewels in loving families.

Several years ago, my sister and her husband read an article about all the orphaned children in Liberia, a country that has been in a civil war for over 20 years. And I watched as they stepped out in faith and adopted three beautiful children from a war-torn country on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. I prayed that one day our chance would come.

In December 2010, my world was turned upside down. My sister posted a picture on her blog of a darling girl named Olga, an orphan, looking for a family.

But that's not all. Olga had Down Syndrome. Through this blog post, I was led to Reece's Rainbow, a non-profit organization that helps find families for children, from all over the globe, with Down Syndrome and HIV. I found blogs that spoke of the inhumane practices of institutions; the places these little ones would end up at the age of five if not adopted by a loving family. These children are treated as throwaways. Some workers think they shouldn't be alive. It broke my heart.

Then I was led to the pages upon pages of waiting children on Reece's Rainbow. All these children, fearfully and wonderfully made, without parents, homes, love. I knew I wanted to save one. If that's all I could do.
Scrolling through the pictures, I saw Wilson. My heart literally leaped out of my chest. I gasped out loud. He was my son. I just knew it. I sent some links to Mike, so that he could hear their stories, these fatherless children. And he replied that he would pray about it.

I couldn't get Wilson off my mind. I went to bed praying for him. I woke up praying for him. I dreamed about him. I thought of him all day long.

I started reading all the adoption blogs I could. I learned about Patti, a beautiful mommy of ten blessings, whose 10th child was born with Down Syndrome. I read books about Down Syndrome and books about raising a child with DS. I learned that the extra chromosome is not only special, it's a blessing.

Eventually, I found out Mike was inquiring about homestudies, international adoption, airfare; and I knew we were going after Wilson. We were going to bring him HOME. To a mom and dad. To four wonderful siblings. To many loving embraces. To our family.