Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Scars














I have been thinking a lot lately about how our family came together. I usually post to keep family and friends updated on our boys and our day to day lives. This post is a little different, as I hoped to reach out to families thinking about or in the adoption process. Maybe our boys will inspire other families.

It started as I was bathing the boys the other day. That is about the only time I can see both of their scars at the same time. Of course Daniyar's scars are always visible. Collin's scar hides beneath his shirt most of the time. I thought that if my boys didn't have those scars, they probably wouldn't be my boys. I don't know the exact reasons their birth parents decided that adoption was the best path for their birth children. I do know that Collin had symptoms of congestive heart failure when he was found and probably appeared very ill. Daniyar had a birth defect very costly to repair in his country, if the resources are available at all.

I started to think of when I was a child and pictured my family. My children looked like me in those daydreams, and didn't have scars. Nobody pictures their children with scars, missing or malformed limbs or ears, vision or hearing loss, birthmarks or lazy eyes. But children come with these things. Maybe my boys can inspire some parents to open their hearts to these kids. It is so much more difficult for children in orphanages with medical needs to find families. Certainly the needs vary a lot. Collin has an annual trip to the Cardiologist and no limitations. Daniyar will need multiple surgeries, intensive speech therapy, orthodontics, etc. But all of this is still just a little part of who they are and the joy they bring to us.

Perhaps a child with medical needs would fit right in your family. You may be their only chance for a loving family. They have so much love to give.

1 comment:

Julie said...

Nice post. I agree and although Cody's issues have been pretty easy to fix here he could have been easily passed over. We really had to change our way of thinking while we were in Kaz. The children we were shown had major medical issues and we were in shock. Now I think back on many of their little faces and wish I could help them. It is awesome when people are willing to adopt special needs in advance. The changes and growth once they get the medical treatment that they need is amazing and wonderful! People could have beautiful families - even more than they imagine.