We interrupt this long blogging silence with an exciting announcement!

Yep, I've been bad at blogging lately. The way I store my pictures changed, which added a few extra steps (I know, not a big deal, but it makes it more of a hassle!) and then not being able to share Jubilee's face has made it difficult, I either have to take pictures of her with her back turned, or edit each picture to hide her face. Add that to, you know, homeschooling and laundry and adding on to the house and summer vacations and activities... I'll try to be better!

Anyway, we have an exciting announcement to make! We hadn't planned on adopting again for another couple of years, but we've said that after each adoption and so far we haven't lasted that long! When God wants us to adopt, he makes it pretty clear, and it's hard to argue with that ;)

I'm in a lot of adoptive family groups and groups for orphan advocacy. Social media is great for orphan advocacy-sharing a child's photo and profile on a social media site can get thousands of viewers and reach just the right person with a heart for adoption. I have seen hundreds of waiting orphans on social media, either older and/or with special needs, and while my heart goes out to each and every one of them, I never said "That one. That child belongs in our family." Until now...

She's in a country I never imagined traveling to, she's a teenager, an age I never thought I'd parent at my own young age, she's in a wheelchair. So many things we've always assumed our life would not include at this point, it would have been so easy to just move on.

She is disfigured and cannot do a single thing for herself. She has been told that she is ugly and not useful, that nobody would want her. She lives in a place for the seriously disabled. The mentally disabled, the physically disabled. She doesn't have a mental disability, people who have met her say she is very bright, and has committed some long and complicated poems to memory. She hasn't had much education available to her, but she desires to learn. She desires a family. She desires a future. She desires the ability to move her arms and legs, to do things for herself-things she knows are possible if she could just get to America and get treatment.

I saw her and couldn't stop thinking about her. The next day, Eric and I happened to be on a no-kids breakfast date, and I showed him her profile. He immediately said "let's do it." And the paper chase began.

So here's how this country works. It is the opposite of Hong Kong. In Hong Kong adoption, you can say what country you are adopting from, but you can't post pictures. This country, you can post pictures, but not the name of the country or her real name. They also don't give referrals, they work on more of a 'first come, first served' basis, which I think is actually more fair in a way. You don't get an official match until you get to the country, which means that we could do all the paperwork, get all the way to this country, and find that she's already been adopted. If that happens, it's ok. We would be thrilled that she has found a family, and we would still have the opportunity to view the files of other children there. Our grant money would still transfer over to our adoption, and orphans would find families. Still a good day. So, I still hesitate to call her our daughter, but rather the child we have loved since the moment we saw her and hope to adopt.

Ok, are you ready to see her? You can check out our Reece's Rainbow fundraising page here, which features a very cute picture of her:

 

http://reecesrainbow.org/81076/sponsorcharnesky