Had you asked me more than 2 years ago if I would be celebrating the 2nd anniversary of my very own advocacy blog I would have called you crazy to say the least. I would have never believed you. Never in a mission years did I think I would be an advocate for orphans waiting world wide for families. It was not on my two do list. But God had different plans that is for sure. This is also posted on SWW.
How did SWW
Start?
Well Still We Wait
(SWW) didn’t start out as SWW. I was 17 years old and I had no intentions of
every starting my own advocacy blog. Yes I prayed that children would find
families and that their families would find them and I was satisfied with that.
In January of 2010 we
traveled for my little brother Jacob who was classified as “Special needs” he
didn’t really have a special need he was just older than the 2-3 year old the
average person sets out to adopt. In our travel group there were children who
had special needs and those are the children who planted the seed of me
thinking I could do more. In our group was a little girl, K, who had
developmental delays. I fell head over heels in love with this darling little
girl. She was one of the sweetest children I had ever met and had so much love
to give. When I met K I didn’t see her disability, I just saw a little one who
was aching for love. There was also A, who was a little boy with CL/CP, M who
was a healthy older child like Jacob, and there were L and D who were older
children with CL/CP and an Ear Deformity. This group of children started
stirring my heart for special needs orphans.
Thankfully, all of the
children that planted the seed in my heart now had families and were no longer
orphans. I was overjoyed that these precious children were coming home to
families who loved Jesus.
Side note, for those
who have never adopted from China most of the time you are with other families
who have children waiting in the same province but not always, most of them
become lifelong friends and that is what happened in that hotel in Beijing
China. Our travel group to this day still keeps in contact and we live all over
the USA. Well at the end of a 3 week trip to China we all came home and I
settled back into daily life and got back into the routine of school. At this
time I was a junior in high school and didn’t think that I could do anything to
help those children that still waited for families. I mean honestly, what can a
17 year old girl do to help the 163 million orphans in the world? It feels
helpless sometimes.
Right before we
traveled for Jacob, God started stirring my heart and leading me to volunteer
with orphans in China. I began researching places and came across Starfish
Foster Home which is in Xi’an China. I talked it over with my parents and they
agreed to let me go. I was thrilled. So it was set. I would do volunteer work
in China during the summer of 2010. We got home with Jacob and God once again
started to work on my heart for the Orphan. He showed me what love could do for
a child, which left me inspired. I was able to watch six children who were once
orphans thrive with the love and care of a family. I decided I wanted to do
more than just volunteer, but I didn’t know what to do at the time. School ended and it came time for my trip. I
was leaving for Xi’an China June 21st 2010 with my friend Hannah and
Step Dad, Jeff. After 28 long hours of traveling we finally made it to Xi’an
and were on our way to Starfish. We didn’t meet the babies until Wednesday June
23rd. (You can see that post HERE) During that first meeting we
acquainted ourselves with all the babies and started learning names. The first room we went to was the room that
we ended up spending most of our time in. This particular room was where I met
a little boy named James. James was a little boy that I feel head over heels in
love with from the day I met him. He touched my heart in so many different
ways. He was a little boy who was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palette.
The saying 'Love at first sight' couldn't be more true than for James. but for
me it was Love at first smile! He had the best laugh and anytime I walked into
the room he would reach for me. He had my heart in his hands and I would have
brought this little boy home in a heartbeat! James and I had several days where
it was just the two of us in the volunteer suite. We became very acquainted
during my stay and I learned his schedule, what made him happy, what upset him,
etc. The other room I spent quite a bit of time in was on the 5th
floor where a little boy known as Jack was. Jack was the foster home singer and
sang anything he could to anyone who would listen. I would hold Jack and sing
to him until he would fall asleep and then I would take him to his bed for nap
or bed time depending on when I got to his room. Jack is absolutely precious
and he touched my heart in so many ways. He was one little guy who had a
thousand reasons to be mad at life, but instead showed us 10 million reason to
love life. He was and still is the happiest little guy I have ever met. He
loves life and lives it to the fullest.
Thomas who was roommate with James was another little guy who took part of
my heart during that first summer in China. Thomas was born with a list of
needs all of which were correctable. He was born with a major heart defect
called TOF and he had an exposed bladder. He was such a sweet little guy who
just wanted to be held and he loved going outside. We had one day where it was
just the two of us and we had a mini photo shoot. He loved being outside form
the moment I picked him up until it was bed time he would point to go outside.
Thomas was not a child that was really allowed to go outside much but anytime I
was allowed, I would take him. His heart condition put him at greater risk for
infections and sickness so the nannies tried their best to protect him and keep
him healthy. These 3 precious boys put
their finger prints all over my heart while I was in China and the 3 weeks I
was there flew by way too fast. Every
child I met during my stay that summer has a special place in my heart and many
of them I still get to have contact with and I am so thankful to their families
for that. Many of their families will never know how much their little one
means to me and how drastically they changed my life. No one can ever truly
understand how much one child changes someone’s life until they look into their
eyes and know their names. It is something I will never, ever forget.
July 13th
2010 I arrived back on US Soil. I was happy to be home, but so much of my heart
was still in China. There were the babies half way across the world that I
loved dearly and my heart was aching for them. I missed being able to walk in
and have 20 plus babies rush at my legs and try to tackle me to the ground. I
missed lying on the floor and having them jump on me. I just flat out missed
them. I did however stay in close contact with the foster home director,
Amanda, and she kept me up to date on all the little ones and many of their
families I have since found and keep in contact via facebook with many of them.
In July of 2010 I found
precious Jack waiting on a list for his family. I couldn’t believe it! Jack was
the sweetest 2 year old boy I knew and I couldn’t believe he was still waiting
for his Momma and Baba! (Father in Chinese).
July 26th was the day that I did my first waiting child post http://oneprincessandaprince.blogspot.com/2010/07/mission-monday-jack-needs-family.html.
At the time I never thought that I would have
to make an entirely new blog and dedicate it just to waiting children, but God knew
that this post was the step to so much more. Jack was the first little one I
ever advocated for, because it blew my mind that someone so sweet would still
be waiting for his family. Yes, Jack had significant needs for your average
family but that by no means held him back. His biggest need was for a family
and I knew that his family was out there. I would just have to help find them.
Myself and many other individuals did a rally for Jack’s family and they
finally stepped up. Kelly, Jack’s mom, is an amazing woman. She and her husband
have adopted many children from China and every one of them is precious. While
I was in China, Jack told me through a translator that he wanted many big
brothers and sisters and a Mama and Baba. Oh my did God answer that little
one’s wish. Jack is the baby brother to many precious little ones and I
couldn’t be happier for this little guy. He has a wonderful family that loves
him to heaven and back and he looks like the happiest kid in the world with his
family.
James was the second
little one who made his appearance before SWW was SWW. I was looking through an
agency list that I normally look through and I saw this face of a little one
who I recognized. Long behold it was James, the little guy who stole my heart.
He was still waiting for his family and I couldn’t believe it much like I
couldn’t believe Jack was still waiting. James had in my eyes very manageable
needs. Yes he would need surgeries in his future but his need was one that many
families considered so I couldn’t understand why someone hadn’t just scooped
him up. I messaged the foster home
director the picture I had found and she confirmed what I thought to be true it
was him. After hearing back from her I went into full swing doing a post for
James so that his family could find him
http://oneprincessandaprince.blogspot.com/2010/08/james-needs-family.html . I
advocated for many months for James and would get so discouraged because he had
not found his family. I had so many individuals email me asking me for more information
about him but no one seemed to proceed to bring him home and then one day he
was gone from every list I could find access to and I knew at that time he had
found his family but I didn’t know who they were. I was so happy that James was
coming home but at the time so upset because I had no idea who his family was.
Then around his second birthday I got the best email ever. James’ family
emailed me and I was ecstatic. I remember the day so clearly I had tears in my
eyes because this little guy was coming home and I finally had heard from his
family. I had been praying for so long that they would contact me and that if
God would allow it he would come to the US and preferably close to where I
live. God answered all three of those prayer requests. He came to the US, his
family contacted me and he was less than an 8 hour drive away. James name has
now been changed to a name that fits him wonderfully and I still love this
little guy dearly. I have gotten to see him on a few occasions since he has
come home and his family loves him dearly and are the perfect match for him. I
am amazed at how God so perfectly orchestrates families!
Thomas (click here for his picture) was the last
little one who stole my heart and finding him on a list still waiting for a
family broke my heart even more. Thomas was precious and needed a family so
badly because the final heart surgeries he needed he could not get in China.
Knowing that without a family he wouldn’t get his final heart surgeries broke
my heart and I went full force advocating for this little one and eventually
his family was found but sadly Thomas passed away in April of 2011. I know he
knew what love was on this side of heaven which does make things easier but
knowing he never had his own momma tuck him into bed is very heart breaking.
Sadly this is the case for so many orphan children throughout the world and
what encourages me to fight for each and every one to find a Momma and Baba.
Still We Wait
officially moved to its own blog on October 24, 2010 which just seemed fitting. We originally started out on Blogger and then later moved to Wordpress so that we could password protect our site. SWW is more than I could have ever imagined it would be. In 2 short years we
have gone from just Ashton and I posting waiting children a few times a month
to Taylor, Ashton, Mellissa, Rachel, Lija, and Claire and between the 6 of us
we post 20 or more children each month who are waiting for families, we write
about different special needs, and we even find families to share their stories
on parenting a child with a particular special need. None of this would have
been possible without the seeds God place in my heart months before. Because of
those children and the little boys I fell in love with SWW would have never
been started. Since we have founded SWW we have seen 30 or more children come
home. Many of these children we followed their trips to China and their families
still keep in touch. I now have agency connections I never dreamed of having
and I love the agencies that I help advocate for their children. They are all
amazing and work so hard to find children families. I couldn’t imagine what I
would be doing had SWW not come about. I have made so many new friends who all
love orphan advocacy. Every advocate counts and we all rejoice when a new one
joins us because none of us advocate for the same children. SWW has since moved
to a password protected site to protect the privacy of our children but we are
still growing and I give all of that to God because without him I would have
died of a broken heart many months ago. There are so many children waiting and
it breaks my heart, but I rejoice each time a child finds a family regardless
of whether or not SWW had any part in it. I am so blessed to run this site and
I am so thankful to all the families who step up and adopt the precious
children that are featured on SWW.
SWW was something that
I never intended on starting and I fought tooth and nail about it telling God
not me, not now. I don’t know how many times I sat there and told him I was not
the person for this I was too young, not educated enough, I couldn’t make a
difference. However I am so glad I said yes. I now have lifelong friends in the
adoption community and so many people that I love dearly. My friendship with
Ashton has flourished and we are very close now and both have hearts for
orphans and waiting and hurting children. God used many different things to plant
the seed of adoption, orphan awareness, and advocacy in my heart. At the end of
the day I know we cannot find homes for every child that is an orphan, but in
the words of Amanda de Lange, "For this ONE I will make a difference"
and that is just what SWW plans to do, making a difference for this one, and
this one and this one, too.
