Meet Lawrence!!

Let me tell you about a little boy I met in China.  His name is Lawrence! (Okay his real name is a Chinese name, but due to privacy issues we have given him an American advocacy name to protect his privacy ;)

How cute is this boy????  Our first sighting of him was in the classroom working on his Chinese writing and his numbers.

It turned out that he was participating in the advocacy camp and would be spending the day with us!  This boy is adorable!!  He is diagnosed with development delay, but he seems to be making great progress.  He followed all the music teacher's directions.  He sang songs and did motions and he was the only one out of all the kids there who was willing to stand up and show off for the visitors!! ;)

I noticed that he is quite small for his age.  He honestly seemed a little developmentally delayed, but it didn't strike me personally as anything more than institutional delays which from my experience have been overcome quite quickly. 

  He was such a happy guy!!  Eager to play and blow bubbles and just be a silly kid!!

Our advocates played games with him and even observed him putting together a lego set by himself.

He is just such a special little boy!!!!  His biggest need is a family!!  A family that will love him, support him, make him laugh, and help him reach his full potential. 

Are you that family?  He is currently listed with Gladney.  Additional information can be found at the link below.

http://www.superkidscharity.blogspot.com/2016/04/lawrence.html

UPDATE- Lawrence's file has been returned to the shared list.  Interested families can still contact Gladney for more details!
Thanks for stopping by to learn about these awesome kids!!
Fannie

2... 3... 4... How much longer??

I'd like to share a story about a little boy.  A boy who was "almost" my son.  A boy who has been waiting for over 2 years for a family to choose him.  To be his forever.

You see, when he was 2 his paperwork was filed.  And we read his file and saw his sweet face.

 

And as we looked at this sweet boy, so young and adorable, we thought FOR SURE he would find his family.  And our Chengbin was already turning 5 years old and might not.  So we prayed and felt confident that we should submit LOI (letter of intent to adopt) for Chengbin.

 

A few months later, a fellow thal mama visited his orphanage and took this heart-wrenching photo of him.  He was nearing 3 years old.  And still waiting...

 

 

My heart shattered.  This sweet boy.  This beautiful boy.  Those eyes.  The sadness.  It overwhelmed me and I promised myself I wouldn't forget him and would do all I could to find his family.

 

And then his file disappeared.  My agency no longer had it.  He wasn't on the shared list of waiting children either.  No other US agencies had his file.  It was gone...

And I prayed it was because a family somewhere in the world had chosen him.

I prayed that he was about to become someone's son.

And I continued to wonder what happened.  I thought about him and prayed for him for 1 1/2 years.

 

Then, a couple weeks ago, one of the caseworkers at our first adoption agency sent me the file of a little boy new to the agency's list.  She was hoping I'd help advocate for him since he had thalassemia.  So I scrolled down and read the name on the file...

 

It couldn't be!  I recognized that name.  I opened the picture and there he was again.  The sweet little boy who I thought was SURE to find a family.  The one who had disappeared from the list.  The little guy I have been praying for for a year and a half.

 

And now he's 4 years old.

 

And still waiting for his family to come...

2 years old, 3 years old, and now 4 years old and still waiting for his family to come.  How much longer will he wait?

I am continually praying for this boy.  Many times each day.  His picture is on the lock screen of my cell phone, so many times a day I see his face and say a prayer.  A prayer that this time he won't be lost.  A prayer that this time his family will say 'yes' and run to him.

Are you his family?

 

There is a $4,000 grant toward his adoption.  I'm happy to talk to you about beta thalassemia major and life with a thal major child.  Please ask me about him at mepscoastie@yahoo.com or contact Lindsey with WACAP at LindseyC@wacap.org.

Blessings,

Fannie

 

Boys- Who will go for the boys??

Lately I've been thinking a lot about boys...

Specifically the ones who are still waiting in orphanages around the world for a family to pick them.

Maybe it's because I missed Chengbin so much while we were in China.
Maybe it's because I know SO MANY families bringing home girls, but only a fraction in comparison bringing home boys.
Or maybe it's because there are two boys with thalassemia who have been on China's waiting child list for years, virtually forgotten, even by us thal mamas who say we are advocating for all thal kids.

But boys are AWESOME.

SERIOUSLY- If you don't think a boy can rock your world and change it forever, you should meet Chengbin.

He is funny and silly and crazy and rambunctious.
He can often be found light saber battling & force pushing anyone that is silly enough to indulge him in an imaginary match up!
Yes- even at church, I often find him right in the middle of a great Jedi battle of good & evil! ;)

Everyone who meets this kiddo adores him!  He's just AWESOME!!  And he gives incredible bear hugs!!! Hehe!!

 

I mean, come on, what girl is going to choose their own pose like this?

 

 

What may truly shock those who know him is that Chengbin, just like so many boys in China waited. 

 

His adoption paperwork was prepared when he was 3 years old. 

And for over TWO YEARS he waited in an orphanage every day for a family to choose him. 

He waited for someone to look beyond his age, his medical condition, and the fact that he was a boy and choose him. 

 

What would have happened to him if we hadn't have said 'yes'??  How much longer would he have waited?  I actually shudder to think that he might still be waiting...

 

After all, the statistics don't lie.  On China's Waiting Child List nearly 75% of the children who wait are boys.  Of all the thalassemia children on the waiting child list, only boys remain.  These boys...

 

"Oscar" is from the same orphanage as Chengbin.  He's been waiting for over FOUR YEARS for someone to pick him.  To love him.  To bring him home to be their son.

 

"Everett" has been waiting 2 years too.  He's beautiful and would be a delight for any family.  But he also continues to wait.

And sweet little "Judah".  Only 3 years old, given a $4,000 grant by WACAP toward his adoption.  But after a couple months, he too is still waiting.

 

And how I can't get "Jonah" out of my head or heart either, another sweetie with basically no medical needs that is from Chengbin's orphanage too.  Wanna guess how long he's been waiting for a family?  4 LONG YEARS.  This summer he even got the opportunity to come to America to spend time with a family, in hopes that as people got to know him, they would decide to give him a forever family.  And still he waits...

 

 

 

So the question my heart is crying out...

Who will go for the boys?  Don't they matter too??  Aren't they equally deserving of a family to call their own forever?  So many of them wait.  More and more everyday actually.

This little Master Builder, Jedi Extraordinaire has been the most unexpected blessing of my life!!!!  You see, our first adoption, I thought like many others, that we would be adopting a girl.  A sister for Katelynn.  God, however, had other plans and made it very clear to me that one of the little boys who were waiting were to be ours.  I thank God every day that he knew what a blessing Chengbin would be to us!!

Yes, I know that the girls need homes too...
and Yes, I too, just brought home a sick little girl who needed a family.
So if you are in process for a girl, please don't consider this a judgment.  It isn't.

But the boys are on my heart.  The boys are waiting!! LOTS of them!! 

"And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:5

CHINA BOYS ROCK!!! And so do Vietnamese boys and Korean boys and Indian boys and Ugandan boys and American boys and all the orphan boys around the world!! :)  Pray for one.  Foster One.  Sponsor One.  Adopt One.  You will never regret it!!!

Blessings,
Fannie Wilks