Best Christmas Gift of 2009

A few days before Christmas I received an email from Reece's Rainbow telling me that there is a volunteer over in Nikolaiev Ukraine...the city where Isaiah lives. She was wondering if I wanted to be in contact with her to get some questions answered. Of course I said YES! On Christmas Day I received an email from Alisha McClintock. She answered some questions and we exchanged phone numbers. She called the next day and we talked for an hour.

A little about her and her husband...from how I understand it. Dan and Alisha were born and raised in the USA. They've lived overseas for the past 8 years. Dan plays basketball for a different country every season. This season they happened to be in the same city as our Isaiah. They have no children but are in the process of adopting 2 little boys from Ethiopia. http://ethiopianmommydaddy2be.blogspot.com/ They chose Ethiopia because that country has the most orphans and they chose boys because there are so many orphaned boys. While in these different countries Alisha volunteers at orphanages. Not just anyone can go to these countries and knock on an orphanage door and expect to start volunteering. There is a process she has to go through to get approved. Even then there is only so much she is allowed to do. She is not allowed to take pictures of the kids. Dan will most likely be in Nikolaiev until June but as soon as they get their referrals for their 2 boys from Ethiopia Alisha will move there to be closer to them.

Alisha only found out about Reece's Rainbow one month ago. She fell in love with a little boy with special needs in this orphanage but she felt they could not adopt him as she has back problems. She wanted to help in someway by getting awareness out to someone to let them know about kids like this...to give them a chance to be adopted to have a forever family. After some research she was led to Reece's Rainbow and found me and another mom (who is adopting THREE 2 year olds with Ds at the same time from the same orphanage as Isaiah).

We found out that there are 10 rooms with 10 kids each. They have 3-4 nannies per 10 kids and they are very well cared for. It is one of the better orphanages. They have hot water and heat. They are well clothed and are on a feeding schedule. They get medical attention and the rooms are set up to be more home like...living room area, toy area, etc.

A couple months ago there was an outbreak of H1N1 in Ukraine. No visitors/volunteers were allowed into orphanages and the nannies wear face masks to protect the kids. Ukraine does not allow the H1N1 vaccine. I was very happy to hear that.

Alisha told me about a Big Brother/Big Sister program they have there. We can hire someone to spend one on one time with Isaiah for one hour about 3 times a week. This Big Sister (or brother, whoever we pick) would be allowed to take photos and send them to us and give us more detailed updates. Alisha is going to get me more details.

Alisha did send me some pictures of in and around the city of Nikolaiev and of the outside of Isaiah's orphanage. The orphanage ones were just taken today. Seems like a dream. Feeling very blessed to have been given this opportunity and to know that Isaiah is well cared for, warm, not hungry, safe and all those other things mothers worry about.

THANK YOU Dan and Alisha for all you do to make life a little better for those without a voice. You are an inspiration to me. I would guess some days it is hard to distinguish if YOU are being "Jesus" to these orphans or if THEY are being "Jesus" to you. One day, God willing, I WILL be doing what you do...even if just for a few weeks at a time.

Play area at Isaiah's orphanage.

Front of orphanage.

Lyrics to "Here I Am" by Downhere.

To hear this song click play in the playlist to the right.

Sometimes Your calling, comes in dream
Sometimes in comes in the Spirit's breeze, yeah
You reach for the deepest hope in me
And call out for the things of eternity

But I'm a man, of dust and stains,
You move in me, so I can say

Chorus
Here I am, Lord send me
All of my life, I make an offering,
Here I am, Lord send me
Somehow my story is a part of Your plan,
Here I am

When setbacks and failures, and upset plans
Test my faith and leave me with empty hands
Are You not the closest when it's hardest to stand
I know that You will finish what You began

And these broken parts You will redeem
Become the song that I can sing

Chorus

Overwhelmed by the thought of my weakness
And the fear that I'll fail You in the end
In this mess, I'm just one of the pieces,
I can't put this together but You can

Here I Am, Lord send me
I want to live my life as an offering
Here I Am, Lord send me
Somehow my story is a part of Your plan,
So Here I am

Here I Am, all my life an offering to You, to You
Somehow my story is a part of Your plan
Here I am


There is no other song that I have heard at this point that comes any closer to how our adoption story is being played out...starting from a dream 8 years ago. "Somehow my story IS a part of Your plan." We are all called to serve our Lord in different areas. I feel called to serve in THIS area. I feel so blessed to have been able to be a stay-at-home-mom. There is NOTHING I would rather be doing. I WANT to live my life as an offering...to help my Lord where ever He is calling me to help...and right now I feel it is mothering.

Adding another child with special needs to our family won't be all fun and games. We know that. It won't always be easy BUT it WILL be good. Love will prevail because love IS a choice NOT a feeling.

"Faith, Hope, and Love. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." Romans 5:1-5

Out of all the names...THEY picked Isaiah.

Isaiah wasn't always Isaiah. The orphans on Reece's Rainbow all have different names. Isaiah's "real" name was Ilya. There was another little boy with the name Ilya also so they changed "our Ilya" to Isaiah...out of ALL the names in this world.

Joseph (our Joey) wasn't always Joseph. His original name was Isaiah...read the story in another post.

Coincidence???

Nope.

God?

Yes!!!

Back when I was pregnant with Joey, I went onto the internet to look for baby boy names. I've never had to look for baby girl names as I've had the same name since I was around 8 or 9 years old. (MAYBE someday I will get to use it. God only knows at this point.) Anyway, I was looking for a biblical name going through the alphabet...A-Z. By the time I got to the "I's" I hadn't found one yet but when I saw "Isaiah" I knew that was in the running. Along with the name being biblical I also wanted one that was not very common. The only other Isaiah I knew was "Isaiah Edwards" on Little House on the Prairie...my all-time favorite TV show. I then got to the "J's" and found "Joseph". I looked up the meaning for both names and then stopped the name search. There was no need to go on to the "K's". After finding out the meaning of "Joseph" I went straight to Darrell and told him we ARE having another boy...as the meaning of Joseph is "God shall add another son". We had no plans on finding out the baby's gender but I knew...I just knew...it was going to be a boy.

The meaning of Isaiah is "salvation of the Lord" or "the Lord helps me".

Are we being sent to help Isaiah or is Isaiah being sent to help us???

Both...definately...both.

Isaiah Joseph.

The Lord will help us by sending another son.

Perfect.

Making a Difference..one life at a time!

A little boy walked carefully along a crowded beach, where starfish by the hundreds lay there within his reach. They washed up with each wave, far as the eye could see and each would surely die if they were not set free. So one by one he rescued them, then heard a stranger call, "It won't make a difference...you cannot save them all." But as he tossed another back toward the ocean's setting sun, He said with deep compassion, "I made a difference to that one!" Author Unknown

I received this poem on a plaque from a dear friend on Nov. 1st, 2009...the day RR opened their Christmas Angel Tree project. We both knew the meaning of this poem and how it relates to orphans however, this time it wasn't meant for orphans but for something totally different. Little did we know that, that day it really WAS meant for ONE certain "starfish"...my orphan Isaiah.

Most would call this a coincidence but I don't believe in coincidences. (This particular friend and I have had many "coincidences" in the short 8 years of knowing each other...sometimes it is hard to believe exactly how many...both big & small ones.)

Definition of "coincidence" at Dictionary.com...

*a striking occurrence of two or more events at one time apparently by mere chance.
*synonyms: accident, luck, fate.

Definition of "coincidence" at Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary...

*the occurrence of events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have some connection.

Definition of "coincidence" by Steph Becker...

*GOD.

Introduction to Reece's Rainbow

I was introduced to Reece's Rainbow (RR) by an online friend named Kimberly. She is the mom to a little boy with the same 2 special needs as our Joey has. We met through a support group for Down syndrome a few years back. Although we've never met personally we have spent a "few" hours talking on the phone...just a "few", right Kimberly?? Kimberly sent me the link to the RR Christmas Angel Tree sponsor project in Nov. 2008. Before opening the link I was just expecting to see photos of orphans with Down syndrome and probably pick one out to sponsor. Well, it didn't exactly go that way. Within minutes I knew one of those kids would be ours someday! I...JUST...KNEW...IT! I became so addicted as did Austin and Noah. Months back, while talking about adoption to someone here and there, every now and then someone would ask if we would adopt a child with Down syndrome. I always said no as I felt Joey would need another 'typical' sibling. I had to swallow those words because after spending those first minutes looking at all the orphans on RR I never felt so strongly that the child we would adopt would have to have Ds. When I shared that with Darrell it about scared the ga-geebezers out of him. He didn't agree...Austin and Noah did...Josh and Ryan really had no comment either way.

I kept looking at the youngest boy pictures and then there he was...Isaiah. Isaiah was going to be ours. How could the littlest baby boy's name be Isaiah??? After all, the first half hour of Joey's life back on July 22, 2005 his name was Isaiah...Isaiah Joseph. I had a STRONG feeling that I needed to change his name. I couldn't explain it really but I changed it to Joseph Isaiah. Now I know why...God KNEW He had plans for a different Isaiah to belong in our family someday.

Things didn't go as "I" planned. After a little "influencing" on my part Darrell agreed to go for it but I could tell he wasn't absorbing all I was telling him. I was about to commit to Isaiah when I went over the requirements with Darrell once AGAIN telling him the required travel plans. This time it "clicked"...2 trips...both parents...possibly around springs work. He said there was no way he could be gone that long. That broke my heart. How could I say goodbye to Isaiah? I felt he was mine...I would stare at him and envision him asking me if I was his mama (like in the children's book "Are You My Mother?") I longed to hold him. It was not an easy time.

But there was another little baby boy from a different country named Aaron. The requirements for that country were much easier...both parents...one trip. Darrell said that was doable. We took the first steps for him. The country closed its doors to international adoption but talk was that there would be an answer by the first of the year whether they would open again or not. I hung on to that and prayed...we WILL hear an answer by the first of the year. During mass on New Year's Day during the readings both Austin and I felt God told us we were to adopt Aaron. Austin NEVER follows along in the missalette but that day he did. He was the one who caught it and pointed it out to me. In the first reading was the name "Aaron" and the second reading was the word "adoption". News kept getting worse with the country not opening. Two different women in the adoption business told me to move on. I took offense to that and said I would NOT forget about Aaron and move on until God closes ALL doors.

Through out 2008 I felt doors were closing. I got sick again (worse year ever)...the country wasn't even close to making a decision and then when RR opened up their Christmas Angel Tree project again I immediately went looking for Isaiah...and there he was...a whole year older and looked soooooooo much like Josh & Joey when they was babies. Then I found out that no one has EVER inquired about Isaiah. I knew why...because he was ours. Why would God move anyone to inquire about him when God had other plans for him?? I then found out that Ukraine's requirements had changed...2 trips...both parents only 1 trip...and we could request not to travel during springs work. Everyone was on board...even Darrell, he just needed to talk to God a little more and get one more "wink". (((By the way...in June of 2008 Darrell and Austin went on an orphan mission trip to Guatemala. His eyes and heart were opened in a whole new way towards orphans...especially orphans with Ds. They met a little boy named Austin with Ds. This boy would not go to our Austin...he only wanted Darrell. A life changing moment...God's hand in it all.)))

When Darrell said he needed a little more time I told Austin and Noah to start praying extra hard...for dad to be listening to God and also hearing our prayers for our desire to bring Isaiah home. "Pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17) I fasted from coffee and prayed harder that week while he took some extra thinking time. On Noah's 8th birthday (8 years to the day my dream started) Noah told dad that we needed to talk. "Caaaaaaan weeeeeee briiiiiing Isaiah hooooooome?" he pleaded. Dad said "yes". "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)

As far as Aaron goes...he will always have a place in my heart. I hope and pray he was adopted in-country and is loved and being well taken care of the way he deserves.

The day my adoption dream started...and how Joey came to be.

It all started back on November 21, 2001...the day Noah was born and he and I almost died. It was a VERY scary 2 days. I started bleeding at home 3 weeks before due date...BLEEDING...not spotting. I called my doctor and was told to call 911 immediately. Our hometown ambulance took me to the Hospital #1 (a small town hospital). I was NOT comfortable going there but they said I had no choice. I was examined and the "doctor" confirmed I was indeed bleeding....reeeeeally?? He talked about doing a c-section but there was no anesthesiologist there AND there was no donor blood either. I was determined IF I didn't get out of there I was going to die there...NOT a peaceful feeling. There was talk about the an air ambulance taking me to the hospital I wanted but I ended up getting onto the Hospital #1's ambulance and they transferred me to the Hospital #2 (a bigger hospital but no NICU)...farther yet from where I wanted to be. While in Hospital #2 they were able to significantly slow down the bleeding. Later I was then transferred by Hospital #2's ambulance to my hospital of choice.

Bleeding was stopped and labor was induced the next morning. That all went as planned but then after delivery I would not stop bleeding. Before I knew it I was signing a consent form for a possible hysterectomy and off to surgery they took me. I didn't get to hold Noah...he swallowed blood so he needed extra cares. When I awoke from surgery and realized I was alive and that Noah was alive and doing well, I told Darrell "NEVER again will I go through this...if we are going to have more kids it would be through adoption."

Through out the next few years I would mention adoption to the family but no one was on board with me. A few years later we tossed around the idea of having another baby but I always "chickened out" in fear of what happened with Noah. God made the decision for us and sent us Joey....TOTAL surprise!!! I trusted that He knew something we didn't and felt peace knowing He would protect me during that pregnancy. Although Joey was born with 2 special needs we embraced his whole being and smothered him with love. We feel so blessed and so lucky to have been given Joey. He has taught us so much in his short life and we look forward to whatever else he has to teach us. God indeed knew something we didn't.

"For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord,
plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a future
full of hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)

"Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." (Matthew 6:8)

Monday night Darrell and I finished up the RR application and our adoption agency application. We will be working with God's Children Adoption Agency Inc. through Fergus Falls, MN. They work with families in MN and ND. The application packets went out in the mail Tuesday, Dec. 1st.

Sunday night when Josh returned back "home" to Bismarck I received a text which said..."So, are we not suppose to tell anyone about the adoption?" I replied..."NO telling, why?" He said..."Cuz I think we should tell." I replied..."Why, and who do you want to tell?" He said..."I don't know...anyone. We have to tell sometime anyway." I replied..."My friends and our family need to know first." He said..."O." This is the boy, who 8 years ago, when I first mentioned the idea of adoption, said "NO WAY! If we are going to have more kids we are going to have our own." Amazing how a few years of spiritual growth can change ones mind and heart. Since leaving for college this fall Josh has become more attached to Joey than he ever was before...AND vice versa. We didn't see much of Josh with him being so busy between school and farm work. Joey is always so excited to see biggest brother come home.