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.