Adoption is redemption

Just wanted to post a little blog update to share with everyone who we are and why we are crazy enough to pursue international adoption over and over again! :)

We are currently a family of six, in 2015 we brought home our son Ryan from Bulgaria. Ryan was 7 at the time and had/has a laundry list of special needs.

Microcephaly, dwarfism, cerebral palsy (to name a few).

In 2012 we brought home our daughter McKenzie from Russia, who also has special needs... Down syndrome and heart issues.

In addition to these two kiddos, we also have two typical, biological boys...and this year we are returning to Eastern Europe to adopt another little girl with special needs.

I know, I know...that's crazy. But honestly for us...it really isn't. We feel that as long as we have room at the table for one more, we need to open our hearts and our home to fill that seat. It isn't a chore, it isn't an obligation...we feel called to adoption and it's been an honor and a privilege to share a life with these amazing kids.

We decided early on in our marriage that if we were to ever adopt, we would specifically seek out kids who had a slim chance of ever being chosen. Older kids, kids with special needs, kids locked away in orphanages with no representation, with no voice. That was not an easy choice to make and this is not the easiest life path we could have chosen for ourselves or our family but it is the right choice, and the right path for us. I have a background in nursing working specifically with children and adults with special needs and both my husband and I were raised in an environment where someone in our immediate family had disabilities so we feel comfortable raising multiple children with special needs.

Adoption is expensive. It's financially costly, it's emotionally costly, and if you aren't very careful and diligent it can leave you spiritually bankrupt. It's hard to "keep the faith" when you surround yourself with the worst of humanity. When you see starving, neglected children every single day who have been tied to cribs for years and left to die. You have to look deeper into their plight and make yourself focus on the helpers, because there is a community of people fighting for these kids. Risking everything to bring them home, dedicating their lives to their rescue. This is where I have chosen to put my focus, not on their plight, but on the work being done to redeem their lives. This is why we adopt, why we choose to live frugally and sure maybe our kids will never go to Disney World or have the finer things but they will know that human life is valued above all else...that materialistic things are fleeting, but investing in the ransom of a person is the best use of resources there is.

We are happy to invest everything in these kids, and we are so grateful for those who have come along side us to help.

What's in a name?

What's in a name? Apparently quite a lot which is why part of me is sad that I have a record of naming exactly zero of my children! Ok I guess that isn't fair, I have picked all the middle names. But...I wanted this name to be special, to mean something, to honor people who have had an impact on my life, or how I choose to live my life...whether known or not. So without further ado...our last child will be named: Gillian Elena Harper Morse

So how did I come up with it, and why did I break my own rule of never giving a child two middle names?! Here is the breakdown:

Favorite actress + favorite teacher + favorite author

I'll begin at the beginning!

Gillian. My favorite actress is Gillian Anderson and has been since I was about 10 years old. While her acting skills are great, that isn't why she's my favorite or why I chose to attach her name to my new daughter. I admire her for her humanitarianism, especially causes that support children who have been dealt a bad hand (like my kids) and for her work with the NF Network. We are both the big sister of a brother with NF which is not a very common, or at least very commonly known, disease. I identified with her on that level and was always really impressed with her willingness to be a voice for a disease that doesn't get a lot of attention. She uses her "powers" for good, and those are the people I admire most, who I look up to, who I would want my children to emulate.

Elena. This name is awesome because it is my future daughter's birth name, but also it is a name I've carried for almost 20 years hoping to give it to a daughter one day. I grew up in private school until 10th grade when I attended public school for the first time...in inner city Chicago. Being quite green to the ways of the world thanks to being sheltered in my religious school bubble, I didn't quite know what to expect. But, it turned out that I loved public school, and I especially loved my English class, taught by a very intelligent, very kind teacher named Elena. I looked forward to that class every single day and she taught me to love reading. That alone marked a big turning point for me and to this day I want to read anything and everything I can get my hands on. I'm also grateful that all these years later I can call that influential teacher my friend.

Harper. One of the books I read during that 10th grade English class was To Kill A Mockingbird. It is my absolute favorite book ever, I have read it 25+ times, I will continue to read it at least once a year until forever, and I may have developed an unhealthy obsession with learning everything there is to know about the amazing author, Harper Lee. ❤️

So there you have it! My kid has a name! Now all I have to do is get her HOME!