I guess I need to tell a little about where we've been so that you can understand where we are going.  John and I married 31 years ago and have 10 children whom we dearly love.  There are 7 girls and 3 boys.  Our oldest son is adopted form the US, then we adopted 3 little girls while living in Seoul, Korea.  Our Grace was a special needs child and we had 18 wonderful years with her before she went to be with the Lord.  The last adoption that we did was a private adoption here in the states.  They were 3 little monkeys, a sibling group.  Matthew was 4, Elizabeth 21/2, and Maria 11/2.  


We of course thought we were finished.  Our children grew up, some married and we now have 10 of the most beautiful grandchildren you can imagine.  We love being grandparents and really had no desire to raise anymore children.  We just wanted to enjoy our grand kids and relax!  God of course had a different plan.  In 2008 we had a beautiful grandson born to us and because of some very sad circumstance,(which I won't discuss right now), he came to live with us.  He has truly been one of the greatest gifts God could have given to us and brings us joy constantly! It was after we adopted him and had to move away from family, due to John's work, that we began talking about adopting once again.  We didn't want Josiah to be raised alone by grandparents with no siblings or cousins around.


I was so upset when God moved us away and pitched a fit on more than one occasion.  I know I'm not proud but I did.  Now I know that had he not moved us we would not have started looking into adoption again.  We thought about it off and on for a couple of years, and  looked into several countries but we were to old for a healthy baby and I refused to even look at special needs.  I always had an excuse as to why that wouldn't work but the truth is I was scared.  I never wanted to feel the pain of watching my child suffer and the horrible pain of losing a child again.  Somehow I had forgotten all of the joys and happy times that Grace had brought into our lives and how he gave us comfort when we lost her.


We decided we would adopt from Jamaica.  We could get a healthy toddler and life would be good.  Again, God had other plans.  We filled out the document for the CDA in Jamaica and began waiting for their response.  While waiting I discovered Reese's Rainbow and I knew our lives once again had changed forever.  God began to remind me of all the wonderful things that came from having a special needs child.  He also began to take away the fear that I had allowed to creep into my heart.  I was sitting on the couch one evening crying after looking at all of the beautiful children that had been thrown away just because they weren't perfect in the worlds eyes!  I remembered how our little Grace had been thrown away and how perfect she was in Gods eyes.  I asked God to help us and told Him we would take whatever child he had for us.  John and I decided to put Jamaica on hold for a while and began to look for the child that was suppose to be with us.  It didn't take long before we found the children, not child, that we knew were ours.


I guess God figures that these children are better off with grandparents raising them that alone in some orphanage and I completely agree!


We have finished all the paperwork this week for the home study and are trying to speed up this process as much as we can.  I pray daily for these children and my heart breaks that they are there alone and we are here.  GOD PLEASE SPEED THIS PROCESS UP!