THE BEGINNING

Right off the bat, I want you to know that this is not going to be the smoothest, most up to date, or best blog you have ever read or tried to follow.  I am sorry.  That will be my last apology for that, but it needs to be out there.  Your patience and long suffering are appreciated, as is your love for Ryan, prayers for our family, and interest in the marriage of those two things; Ryan and our family!

I have been wanting to blog more about Ryan but I am already way behind.  Things are going so fast! Praise the Lord! It is just hard to keep up to speed and keep everyone in the loop.  I am praying that I will rest in God’s perfect timing and that He will prioritize each day what I need to do and when, and then give me peace about the rest of "my list" that is left undone. 

The question that gets asked the most and a good place to start is “How did this all start?”  In another blog I can share more about the things that pulled Chris and I towards adoption in general...But even Ryan's story in particular has a very long answer, so feel free to read it in chunks, take breaks and come back for more if you are interested.

THE BEGINNING OF THIS ADOPTION PLAN AS REMEMBERED BY JULIE:

SPRING 2011:

Sometime in the Spring (March, April, May) of 2011, Chris and I had a talk about our family and what we were thinking in regards to the size of our family.   In a nut shell we landed on the same page, but with different hopes, concluded by the same prayer.  I was content with our three girls, but was hoping that God might have more children for us.  Chris was content with our three girls and was leaning towards feeling like our family was complete.  We both agreed to pray that God’s will would be made clear and that we would choose to rejoice in His goodness and the blessings that He gives us, no matter what the answer or outcome.

Then, over the next two days Chris was distant, having a hard time looking at me and hardly initiated any conversations with me.   Of course this was confusing and painful for me, but the Lord helped soften my heart, and I went to him and asked if I had done something to hurt him, if the conversation had made him uncomfortable, or if he was mad at me.  Much to my surprise, he told me that he had a dream the night after we had talked and that he was still taken in by it.  In his dream, which he said felt more like a “vision,” we had a son with special needs, and that the dream was so real he just couldn’t shake it.  Here you can get a glimpse of the depth of the hardness of my heart in my first response, which was, “We’ll I’ve never even thought of adopting a child with special needs…”  After some discussion, I agreed to ask God what His will was for my life, instead of clinging to my plans. 

SUMMER 2011:

              Brief background information:  Chris has been going to Monterrey, Mexico for the last 7 years to volunteer with Back2Back Ministries, usually for 1 to 3 weeks each year.  They seek to care for orphans by providing Care for Today and Hope for Tomorrow.  You can read more about them here:

http://www.back2backministries.org  

https://www.facebook.com/back2backministries 

http://back2backministries.wordpress.com

             As Chris went and loved his time serving with Back2Back he began to pray (for about 5 years!) for me to go with him to Monterrey.  Once again God wooed me with His love and softened my heart to want to go with Chris.  In the summer of 2009, God provided for that to happen in really amazing ways.  Again, I could go on in great detail about how this came to be but to put it quickly, many of my friends and family were praying for me, encouraging me through my fears, and providing the expenses for me to go.  My (Julie’s) parents took care of our two girls (then, ages 1 and 3) here in the states during that week.  It was an incredible trip with a hundred more stories to tell, but, to simplify- two outcomes were:  1) A deeper understanding of God’s call for Christians to take care of orphans and 2) Chris and I being on summer staff during June and July of this year, 2011- this time with our girls (ages 5, 3, and 1) coming with us.  More about that here in the blog that we tried to keep:       

http://back2backer.wordpress.com

One thing that we didn’t blog about was the night when Chris asked me, “If you could take one child home, who would it be?”  I was deep in thought, there were hundreds of kids we had meet, quite a few that I had spent a lot of time with…how could I ever choose?  So I evaded the question by asking Chris, “Why, do you know who you would take?”  Without skipping a beat, he responded, “Bris, the girl at Del Norte.”  I was so surprised that he had an answer!  Bris is the one girl we met with Down’s syndrome.  Honestly, I had no idea that this was all part of God preparing us.

After our summer we got back in touch with our dearly loved neighbors, reconnected with our friends from our home church and started back into a more “normal” routine.  Chris works for a small, but great, Christian school system, as the gym teacher for 3 schools.  I stay at home with our three girls; Our oldest daughter is 5.  She is in Kindergarten five mornings a week and is learning to read, loves to play make-believe, and ride her bike.  Our middle daughter is 3 and goes to preschool 2 mornings a week.  She hates being alone, loves to laugh and wants to do whatever her sisters are doing.  Our youngest daughter is almost 2 years old.  She is a courageous explorer, likes music and dancing, and has a sweet way of comforting those who are sad. 

As the school year started, Chris and I continued praying about our family (specifically its size and if we should adopt again), ways to advocate for orphans, and serve as God would have us.  On October 18, 2011 my attention was arrested as I read a Facebook post from my best friend, also named Julie, from Bedford Jr. High School.  To me, Julie is a best friend and in a lot of ways a super star- but really Julie is just a “normal” person… living an extra-ordinary life.  Julie and her husband currently care for 18 children, most of whom were once orphans.  You can read more about the work God is doing through Refuge Ranch at: http://www.fishersofmenmexico.org/ .  I believe, and I know that she would agree that her lifestyle is only possible because of the truth of Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  So Julie, caring for 18 children with strength and wisdom from the Lord, feels led to post a link to Reece’s Rainbow, an organization that advocates for orphans in 25 different countries who have special needs …and she obeys!  And, I see it, and my life changes! Our life changes!  (The sweet details of Julie’s role will be in a later blog.)  There was no way for Julie to know what Chris and I had been talking or praying about, when she posted that blog, but wow the timing was ripe!  I see it as God's perfect timing.

FINDING RYAN:

For the next two days, I am drawn like a magnet to that site.  I shared it with Chris and he wept as he read about these kids.  I pour over the kids shown, I read, I don’t know, about 150 of the 350 profiles until on October 20, I read Ryan’s profile.  I just can’t explain it…  Why Ryan?  Maybe it was his absolutely adorable droopy eye lid, his head banging as a way to comfort himself (which I can relate to personally), his medical needs that are not being addressed, his transfer out of his baby orphanage, thinking about him being almost 5 years old and never having  had a family…I don’t know.  I read 20 more and then went back to Ryan’s profile. 

http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=ryan&x=0&y=0 

I read 10 more and went back to his…I posted his link on my Facebook page without even thinking about why.  I couldn’t stop, and can’t stop thinking about him.  My heart is captivated and all I can think it that it must be Christ working once again in my heart.

 

Chris and I reread the verses in the Bible on orphans, some of which can be found here:

http://reecesrainbow.org/new-family/why-rescue-orphans

What could we do?  What should we do?  While there are many ways to support adoption, and we know that not everyone is able to or called to adopt, we definitely feel called.  I feel excited, like this is what I was created for.  I have a passion for adoption!  I want you to also know that I also feel fear and terror (more about that later).  Then we decided to keep praying and to move forward by getting more information- nothing binding, no commitment, just getting the facts about Ryan and what it might mean to adopt him.

First we had to see if we even qualified to adopt in his country in Eastern Europe.  We do.  Next was getting information on Noonan’s Syndrome, and about the rest of his diagnoses: a congenital heart defect (atrial septal defect), an organic lesion of the central nervous system as a result of genetic pathology, severe delays of psychological and motor development, farsighted… among others.  We requested the rest of the pictures of Ryan that Reece’s Rainbow had in hopes of better seeing what his abilities, disabilities, and needs might be.  Well, that and because I was already in love with him.  Out of the 33 pictures of Ryan that Reece’s Rainbow sent over these two caught my eye immediately, and not because of the purple marks on Ryan’s face…but it was her.

Pictures mentioned to come later...I have much to learn :)

ENTER ANDREA:

 I know that as a form of self-protection most of the care takers in these orphanages are emotionally detached from the kids they care for…but not her.  Her smile…she is kissing him…  I cried and was instantly grateful for her tender care of him.  I had a quick, fleeting thought, “Who is she? I just wish I could talk to her, she seems like she really loves Ryan and may actually know about him…”  I am thankful that the Lord took my “wish” and in His loving-kindness answered it as a prayer.  On October 24^th  it happened- a miracle!  I decided to do my “research” on Google images.  I wanted to see if I might be able to tell if his physical characteristics from when he was younger matched those of other children with Noonan’s syndrome. After about 150 some pictures under “Noonan’s Syndrome” I saw a picture of Ryan.  OF RYAN!!! What? I was so confused and clicked on his picture which went to a blog.  I quickly scrolled through the pages, until I saw her face…the woman in my pictures, she has a blog? She speaks English?  She blogs about Ryan?!? Tears of Joy!!! Amazement, wonder, reading new information about Ryan…I just couldn’t believe my eyes.  After pouring over the 4 blogs specifically about him, and watching a video, I sent Andrea, my human connection to Ryan, an email mostly to see I could ask her more questions that could help us determine if we would be a good family match for him.  And our friendship has continued.  More about Andrea’s huge, God ordained, role in Ryan’s life in a later blog.               

So, just to make this clear this is how it began- out of 163 MILLION orphans, the ONE that Chris and I found out about and began to pray for- God leads me to the one care taker from another country who has volunteered at his exact orphanage on the other side of the world, who speaks my language to answer questions about his specific care and needs.  Does this remind you of the parable of the Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to find and protect the ONE that is missing?  How amazing and personal is God!  How sweet is the fruit of following Him!?!  I praise the Lord for strengthening Andrea to go and serve.  I am thankful she chose to follow the Lord out of the love that she has for Him.  You see, Andrea and I both know that we were rescued too-  with a price that is much, much greater than what we will spend on Ryan’s adoption.  How much we love Ryan and the lengths we will go to get him home are just miniscule when compared to the lengths that God has gone to get us Home- in heaven with Him for eternity.      

The story continues...