Stretching By God's Hands

I love how God stretches us.  He sort of sneaks up and forces the growth that we would otherwise fight off or work to avoid.  I see this time and again with our adoptions.  Each one has been such a leap of faith.  

When we chose to pursue Kaitlyn’s adoption, we had NO idea about congenital heart disease.   We only knew that it sounded difficult and scary.  We had a wonderful cardiologist who assured us that “anything could be fixed” and we leapt in with both feet, honestly not having any idea that we would find ourselves facing open heart surgery one month after returning home with our new daughter.   My heart broke as hers was repaired and I fell deeply in love with our beautiful, little fighter.  This brave girl was out of the hospital just 5 days after a MAJOR repair of a pretty complex anomaly.

We fell in love with Meilynn and prayed so hard to find her after losing her file.  We had experienced the unknowns of special needs adoption, but had no idea what to expect with cerebral palsy.  Again, to be honest, we were a bit surprised when we met her.  From information we had heard, we assumed she would be able to do almost everything, basically unhindered physically.  It became quickly evident that this was not the case.  However, this brave princess showed us how amazing she was!  She does not allow her disability to stand in her way.  She is also a fighter and will succeed in anything she sets her mind too.

When Addisyn’s file was sent to us, we almost chuckled.  Of course it would be something we had specifically said we would rather avoid this time (cerebral palsy).  It wasn’t even surprising to us that NOTHING was marked in her file.  We had no information and it would require a huge leap of faith to go forward with her adoption.  Once again, God was pushing us out of our comfort zone.   Once we had put the pieces together and figured out the puzzle that had been her life, we met our sweet littlest princess.  It wasn’t cerebral palsy that threw us into a tail spin, it was her EXTREME delay.  God was once again stretching us.  Again, we have seen an amazing little girl blossom into a hilarious, sweet, “normal” toddler.

We braced ourselves with this next adoption.  We knew God was leading us every step of the way.  We saw his fingerprints over every part of the journey.  However, if there was one lesson we had learned, He used these experiences to stretch us EVERY time!  Then we met Greyson.  Once again, we were pushed to the edges of our expectations.  He is a complex little guy.  It is difficult to dissect institutionalism, cognitive development, cerebral palsy, and personality to discover the true boy that lies underneath.  As our funny, loving, mischievous son emerges, we fall deeper in love and seek more answers.

So that brings me to today.  We had a neurology appointment for Greyson and Kristyn.  In true form, strange unexpected twists were introduced that continue to push us into paths that we may not have chosen, but are privileged to travel.  Greyson got a very good report.  He is a “classic” case of spastic – diplegia cerebral palsy.  In other words, it affects mostly his lower limbs.  He has some tremor in his hands which will make it more difficult for him to tie shoes and he will struggle with handwriting.  However, therapy will help.  It won’t get worse.  He doesn’t need AFOs (ankle-foot orthotics).  And, the neurologist was quite confident that it isn’t affecting cognitive processing, we are just seeing the effects of years of institutionalism.  This little prince should be just fine.  He just needs a little time to transform into the chosen son that he is.  PRAISE GOD!!

We assumed Kristyn would be our “easy” case.  As it turns out, she is the more complex one.  We aren’t 100% sure of any diagnosis.  We are all thinking that it isn’t cerebral palsy (original and referred diagnosis).  It looks like she may be having some difficulty with her hip.  We have a referral to check on this and make sure that it is working correctly and fits together as it should.  There is also some evidence that suggests she may have some form of spina bifida.  We will know more after an MRI, which we will do after the hip X-RAY so that everything can be examined at once.

I write because each of these is truly “outside of my comfort zone”.  Would I have knowingly adopted a child that would need open heart surgery on a complex condition?  Would I have knowingly adopted a child that struggles to physically keep up with peers?  Would I have knowingly adopted a 2 year old child that was developmentally equivalent to a 6 month old?  Would I have knowingly adopted a child that has spina bifida?  I AM SO GLAD THAT I DON’T HAVE TO ANSWER THESE!!  We did!  AND WE ARE IMMEASURABLY BLESSED BY THESE MIRACLES!!  God pushes us outside of our comfort zones in order for us to experience the full measure of his blessings!  I praise Him for His sovereignty and consistent nudging to deepen my faith and dependence on Him!