A Family Needs Their JJ!

:::::Update::::
A wonderful family has stepped forward to begin the process to adopt JJ! In my opinion, there isn't a better family out there for him! Let's pray him home now! Specific prayers are: For a speedy process, for stability in his birth nation, for the family to be prepared for his particular needs and to find amazing resources for him in their local area and for JJ to transition well into his new family!

A note to the few of you who have posted comments in the last few days wanting more info on JJ... thank you! Please check out Adoption Advocates International or Reece's Rainbow to learn about other children very similar to JJ needing families!


There is a sweet little boy... 

He lives in a little town in East Africa, a town that doesn't have medical resources to correct his clubbed feet, hydrocephalus and other medical needs associated with his Spina Bifida.  Because of these needs he was orphaned. He is completely on his own.


All day long he lays in bed, sits long hours on a pot and scoots around on the red dirt.  Other kids in the home hit him on the head, but he never hits back.


I am pretty convinced JJ is not only a survivor but a champion! 

Despite his clubbed feet and poorly developed legs, and partial paralysis he has learned to walk. Yes. Walk! He walks slowly pulls himself up and shuffles down the halls of the orphanage and finds people to talk to, play with and to bestow his gorgeous smile upon!


This infectiously smiley boy has lived his whole little life on a pot and in a bed and on the red dirt.




He had a family who wanted to adopt him. I was told that when he heard that he would be adopted he dropped down on his knees and started crying in joy... he was so happy! He knew his deep desire for a family. Unfortunately, things happened in the life of that family that made adopting JJ impossible. 


So again, he waits. On the pot. On the red dirt. Alone.


He has waited years, available for adoption. One has to wonder, why? People who know and have spent a lot of time with JJ all say they know he is an intelligent boy with a lot of potential, if only he had two things... a family... some medical care. 


One intern that spent months with JJ said of him, 

"JJ is one of the most uncomplicated kids I know. He is never complaining about anything. JJ is very good in keeping himself busy when he is alone. Sometimes I observe him and he’s singing or talking with himself but he is not mentally disabled. He’s the first who knew my name when I came last year. He understands everything and he speaks. He just needs attention like all the kids do. Always when he gets attention he’s the happiest person in the world, and his eyes are always shining. He’s motivated to walk. He’s motivated for nearly everything. He will melt anyone’s heart. He really is a clever and loving little boy."


Another family that spent a lot of time with JJ while adopting their child at the same home said, 

"We all fell in love with sweet JJ! He was usually left on a potty or in a bed, as he can't walk a lot, so we would always bring him down to the grass where the children played so he could be involved too. He is very smart and gentle and sweet! He would grab onto my hands and pull himself up to walk, or make his way up and down the sidewalk from the grass to the rooms where they sleep so that he could play with us. Some of the other kids were mean to him, but he was never mean back. He has the most beautiful smile that never left his face the whole time we were there!"


I can't imagine if JJ is smiling and happy sitting on the pot or scooting through red dirt what he will be like in a family, with toys, and brothers or sisters and with fixed legs... can you? 


It is something I am marveling at... the endless possibilities that God has buried deep within JJ for a family to discover and produce! What a "lucky" family they will be!


A family needs their JJ, just as much as JJ needs his family!

Let's see JJ in a family by this time next year!


Please share...

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Post Script...

I know what you are thinking, I have thought it too. "I want to adopt. I feel God calling me to adopt. But JJ is too old. He has special needs I don't think I can deal with or sign up for. I don't think God would/has called me to something I know I couldn't do..."

Can I just clarify something?

We are in a season and a time in the world when healthy infants, under the age of three are not really available and needing to be adopted, perhaps periodically, but not at the rate that people are requesting to adopt in that particular demographic. There are waiting list of families desiring a healthy infant or toddler 100's long at many agencies. The thing is, nations around the world are doing a seemingly better job at preserving biological families and of placing infants in domestic adoption. This should excite us! This is what being "pro-adoption" should be about...  cheering for the end of the need for adoption! So what, if it comes in the exact age and demographic that we'd most like to adopt a child in? Instead of feeling entitled we should be rejoicing... and moving on to the next need that needs meeting.

As things change so must we. The reality is that the vast majority of children needing to be adopted internationally are older and/or have special needs. If God has called you to adopt internationally he has called you to kids just like JJ, because those are the kids who are currently most available for adoption. There are gobs of waiting children all over the world but most of them are not healthy babies or toddlers. The main methods of adoption that would likely grant you an infant adoption ethically is domestic infant adoption or foster-to-adopt.

While I know one half of adoption is about growing our families, and that is a very personal choice, however the other half of adoption is about working within a system and filling a need for the children that are available for adoption. Your personal needs/wants as a family should always be placed under or to the side of the needs of children who are available for adoption... either a surrender of our perfect family picture or moving on to another method of growing our family.

I know it is hard. It is a big surrender. I have personally struggled with this topic as well... both before and after our adoption. After it all, my only regret is that I wish we had been "open" to more.

Thanks for hearing, thanks for sharing about JJ's needs and other kids like him!