On Waiting Children

For us, limb differences and adoption are closely related. But for my daughter’s limb differences, she all but assuredly would not be mine. I don’t pretend to understand it, it makes my head, and heart, spin madly.

What I do understand is that because of her, my eyes have been opened much wider. There was our obvious introduction into the world of limb differences. But it’s been so much more than that.

Through her, we also became acquainted with waiting children, children who wait for families. Numerous times during my daughter’s adoption we were contacted by our adoption agency. Various families had seen my daughter on the agency’s waiting child photolisting and they had prayed for her and us. Often they wanted to pass on links about other people with limb differences. Links about people like Kyle Maynard, Tony Melendez and many more. That meant so much to us. It was both humbling and encouraging.

Since then, as a family we’ve gone on to do the same. We look at a waiting child photolisting (Holt, Lifeline, WACAP are just a few) and select a child. For us, each time it’s been an older child. Then we as a family pray for that child. My husband and I pray for strength and transition for the child and for the family they will come home too. My son and his sister’s prayers are more simplistic. They pray for that child to find, in their words, a friend.

So far we’ve had the joy of contacting one family and letting them know that we were praying for them. They graciously shared their story with us, which renewed our prayers.

To paraphrase the Montessori school prayer: I fold my hands and softly say, bless the children who wait today.

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When we were getting ready to travel,  I needed to take gifts to the nannies who cared for my child. Selecting gifts was, of course, no small task. How do you thank someone who loved your child when you weren’t present? I stumbled on www.3cordshaiti.com. All of their unique gifts are made by women with limb differences. Additionally, their organization is a social enterprise and not simply a charity.