Today a special Mom ,Karen, shares the story of adopting her beautiful daughter Julia. Superkids met Julia on a trip to China in 2011. She is smart and so full of Love and Life. You can see just by looking at her pictures, She is always one step ahead of Everyone! This is a very timely post because this week on the Asia waiting child blog we are exploring the need of limb difference. You can read more about children with limb difference by clicking HERE It really shows us what an amazing Journey adoption is. Thanks for sharing this wonderful story Karen!
Long, long before adoption was even on our radar, and
without even realizing it, I was being prepared to be Julia’s mom. I was a teacher, and one year I had an
amazing boy in my class who had been born with the absence of his left forearm
and hand. This limb difference didn't slow him down one bit! In fact, he could
type faster than the other students in the computer lab, and he was right in
the middle of all the games at recess.
The fact that he had one arm shorter than the other didn't define him at
all! He was known for his fun
personality, his kindness, and his determination.
We saw our daughter’s face in May of 2011, while looking on
RainbowKids.com. When I clicked on her
picture and read about her, it said that she had, “Absence of left forearm and
hand”. That “special need” was familiar to me and I didn’t feel intimidated by
it at all! Could it be that God had
placed that little boy in my life all those years earlier knowing that I would
one day parent this child? We filled out the waiting child questionnaire, and a
few weeks later the committee offered us the chance to be matched with “Ya Ya”
who would become Julia to us. Suddenly
the cost and the amount of paperwork, while incredibly daunting, seemed
somewhat inconsequential in comparison to the urgency we felt to get to her and
to bring her home. There is a great
feeling of unrest when your heart is tied to someone who is literally on the
other side of the world!
That November, Pat Marcus with Superkids Charity visited
with the children at the Shanghai Children’s Home and she was able to spend
time with Julia. What a gift it was when
she returned and had many pictures of our daughter! She spent nearly an hour on the phone telling
us about Julia and the place where she lived.
She answered my questions and reassured me of her observations of the
care that the children were receiving.
It was a treasured conversation that I reflected on often during the
months of waiting for our paperwork to be processed.
We met Julia on June 11, 2012. What an exciting time! We spent a wonderful two weeks in China with
her, and it seemed like she had always been with us. She’s been home a year and a half now, and we
can’t imagine life without her. She has
added so much fun to our family, and we’re constantly inspired by her sense of
determination and creativity.
Julia is not defined by the absence of her left forearm and
hand. She is known as an incredibly
silly girl with a ready smile and a wonderful laugh! She makes an impression on everyone who meets
her, and she is quick to share a hug.
She values her friends and family and shows it by her excited reactions
whenever she sees one of us. She started
kindergarten this year and was chosen (out of 650 children) as the drama student
of the month for September. Nothing
could be more accurate!
We are delighted to be Julia’s parents and can hardly
believe the blessings that adoption has brought to our family! If you have extra love in your hearts to
give, would you consider adopting a waiting child? Those words say it all- they are children who
are literally just waiting for a mom and dad to find them and treasure
them. There really are not enough words
to express the difference that adoption can make, not only in the child’s life,
but in yours as well!
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