SPECIAL MAMA

When Ben arrived at the orphanage at 3 weeks old, he went to the newborn baby room.  There, one of his caregivers would become his "special mama".  

This woman didn't just take care of Ben, she CARED ABOUT him.  

When Ben needed his open heart surgery when he was 2 years old, she arranged for a priest to go the hospital and give Ben a blessing in order to protect and keep him safe during surgery.

Over the 6 years of Ben at the orphanage, she continually prayed for a family to come forward for Ben.

Even as Ben moved to other groups and other caregivers, she kept a special eye on this little boy.  Ben would often have the freedom to leave his group's room and go and visit his special mama in the baby room.  There she would give him special food and snacks.

The fact that Ben was able to experience this constant and continual love and care from his special mama was such a blessing for him.  It allowed him to feel like he belonged to someone and planted the seed in his heart what the love of a family would feel like.  

Ben being able to attach to his special mama over the past 6 years definitely helped him attach to us.  What we have learned through our foster care experiences is that a baby needs to attach to someone even during those first few weeks of life.  As long as there is bonding with someone, the baby will have an easier time bonding to his new adoptive parents.  So this is exactly what special mama helped Ben do.

Special mama also gave Ben the gift of a Lithuania baptism shawl that she wanted him to take to America with him.  

We are so grateful for the Lord bringing this wonderful woman into Ben's life.  Her love and care for our little boy has helped make him the wonderful child that he is today: bright, funny, loving, and sweet.  

Thank you special mama!

Special mama is the woman to the side of Ben, talking to him and trying to get him to say hi to us.

HOW SAD

I don't know what else to say about the following article except how sad...

DOWN SYNDROME FREE WORLD

GOD WAS ALWAYS WORKING!

In the beautiful tapestry of Ben's life story, there is an incredible fellow RR mom who advocated for Ben ("Ryan" on RR") back in 2014.  

I knew about her efforts because this mom and I talked about funds she had raised for our son and because we are both part of a wonderful FB support group.  She even sent me her Angel Tree Warrior ornament for Ben because she thought it would be a precious addition to his Lifebook.

However, yesterday I was reading her blog of her family's adoption and came across 2 posts I had never noticed before.  These posts were about our Ben:

11-21-14
Let me digress for a minute to talk to you about two more sweet babes.  One is Ryan, a four year old little boy living in an orphanage in the same country as ____.  This guy seriously has the best smile ever, and would make an incredible son.  Since I'm his Angel Tree Warrior, I asked our agency about him.  They've had him listed for sometime and she let me know that no one has ever asked for more information about him.  Not once, friends.  Even asked about him.  I think my heart split into a million pieces hearing that...

5-5-15
And last, but not least, my sweet Ryan.  This is the boy with the megawatt smile we designed the tshirts for, the boy who I shared around Christmas.  This little dude is still waiting, and he will be five this summer.  Five is still such a baby!  He recently got some new specs, and I'm not sure he can be any cuter!  Ryan has a repaired heart defect, and mild asthma, and as of this spring he was already getting dressed and undressed alone, as well as eating independently.  My facilitator said he is an awesome little dude, and I wanted so badly badly to give him some love!  He gets along and nplays with the other children and is very friendly to adults.  Ryan is at a perfect age to come home- ready to get started with preschool and kindergarten and have someone finally willing to discover all he is really capable of.  Ryan is interested in anything, and he would fit well in any family.  This boy has my heart, friends.

Part of me was very sad to read that no one ever inquired about Ben at the agency.  But another part of me was amazed to see how God had always ordained Ben to be part of OUR FAMILY!  

The one post is from 11-21-14.  If you look at our adoption timeline, Fall 2014 is when God started to the plant the seed in our hearts to adopt Ben.  Her other post is from 5-5-15- we started our paperwork with Open Door on 5-6-15!

GOD WAS ALWAYS WORKING in this little boy's life:  keeping him safe through the pregnancy and birth, caring for him during 6 years at the orphanage, helping him to be a happy little boy, working in our hearts to adopt again when we thought we were done, and helping our transition to our new life together with Ben in our family.

Ben may have been an overlooked treasure by many but never by God!

Perhaps the words of Psalm 139 say it the best:

You have searched me, Lord,

and you know me.

2You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4Before a word is on my tongue

you, Lord, know it completely.

5You hem me in behind and before,

and you lay your hand upon me.

6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

7Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

11If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,”

12even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

13For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

15My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be.