Yangs Hurry To Adopt
Donation protected
I have to start our story with our first adoption of the greatest little boy! He came into our family on November 10, 2014 and has added so much joy to our already happy home! We love our little Luke and thank God for placing us in his life and he in our lives! I applaud my husband and kids for taking the leap of faith with me when I approached them with the call to adopt. Now life without Luke seems unimaginable. It's been hard at times, but definitely worth it!
Since home, Luke would look at pictures from the orphanage and always point to one boy in particular. In our quest to find him, I joined several China advocacy Facebook pages and posted pictures, asking of his status. There was also another boy at the orphanage that I felt that I should advocate for also, so posted both boys in hopes that someone would have information and/or be interested in adopting. Unfortunately, in China, the boys are the ones that seem least likely to be adopted, and then add a special need, and it's a double whammy. Anyway, in search of the boy from the orphanage, I saw a post about an aging out boy. I felt drawn to this boy and approached my husband about the possibility of bringing an aging-out boy into our family. Within the next few days, a family stepped forward and all was as it should be. But not long after, another aging-out boy was posted and I really only wanted to help advocate for him. I posted and shared the link on him and thought all would be well for this boy too, but days and weeks went by without anyone interested. I asked to look at his file to further find out about this boy. To my astonishment, I found out that he was abandoned at the age of 9 and had only been at the orphanage for 4 years. I listened to an audio interview with him, was touched by his gentleness and responses to the questions asked. I continued to advocate daily for him until one day there was a response from a wonderful family that stepped forward to be his forever family! It was a truly happy day and I felt as though God's mission was accomplished. About a week later, regretfully, the family had to withdraw their intentions of adoption. Such a great family with a big heart, but due to a job sitiuation they were not going to be able to go through with the adoption. So we were back to square one with looking for a family for this boy. I personal messaged so many asking them to consider adopting this child. I messaged anyone I knew remotely interested in adoption to consider him. Still no one. I began to ask myself....could we add this boy to our family? Does God want us to be the family and home for this young man? Is it crazy to think that we could add another child to our already large family? Many questions...but still we wait. We wait for a family to step forward. While waiting, I ask questions to medical professionals about his disability. I ask questions to families that have been to the orphanage and met him. I ask questions of the adoption agency. I ask the questions in hopes that I would then share the answers with the family that would step forward to adopt him. Still a week later, no one and time is ticking for this young man. What was 3 months, was now 2 months that this child has until he ages out and is no longer able to be adopted.
So you can imagine what came next....and my husband knew it was coming. I think he could tell by the way I said his name and the way I put my arms around him. Then it came..."Steve, do you think this boy is meant for us? Should we take this child? Do you think we're the family for him?" If not us, then who?
I'll fast forward through much prayer, discussion, prayer, discussion, prayer, discussion to the decision to make this boy a part of our family and give him a FOREVER FAMILY AND HOME!
So many times I think we want God to tell us exactly what to do and what he expects from us. We wait for everything to become crystal clear, but I guess that's where hope and faith come in. So here we are again, this time taking a GIANT leap of faith. A leap of faith that only God can lead us through. Through this all I just keep hearing God whispering "Where I lead you, I will not leave you." I hang onto that through it all. This giant leap of faith is huge for us all. A teenager is very different from a 6 year old. So many things to think about....educating a 13 year old who may not have had formal education for the first 9 years, the emotional state and self-image of a 13 yr old that has been an orphan, a physical disability with an unknown prognosis and treatment plan. So much more to think about then adopting a 6 year old, but I really feel like this is what we're called to do, we're called to give this boy love and stability and a future.
When my husband was 13 he was in a car accident that took the lives of his father, mother, and 16 year old brother. He was the lone survivor and what once was a happy, loving family was diminished to him figuring out life without the most precious people to him. Thankfully his aunt, along with her children, came from California to NC to care for him and along with much love and attention from families within our community, he grew into a happy, loving individual and devoted father with a successful career. I can't help but think of my Steve when I see this lonely 13 year old boy in China, one who needs and deserves the love of a family and the stability of a home.
I know we'll get the questions, "Why? Why do you want to do this?" My answer is "Why not? Why not give something to a child that they may never have? When you have something that you feel you can share, to not share that gift is a waste.
Our last adoption took 1 year to complete with time to save and time to plan and time to gather paperwork and documents. This time we are having to expedite things very quickly. Everything has to be completed and in China by June 1st. This means that all this has become "a labor of love" for this child. I'll need to be sure everything moves on a tight timeline, lots of prayers that everyone involved in the process understands the urgency of what we're doing, and lots of prayers that we can all hang in there and move quickly to bring this boy home.
With the costs of speech therapy and a cochlear implant for our first adopted child, and then the costs of tutor/private schooling, therapies, and orthopedic treatment for our new son-to-be, we are going to be stretching it to add the costs of this sudden adoption process. I promised my husband to take on the adoption costs and leave the rest to him, which is a heavy burden itself. So here I am trying my best to fundraise the quickest way possible and raise funds to make this happen.
When I shared my thoughts of adopting this child with someone, their response was, "Lori, you can't save them all." And I totally get that, but my thought as I walked away was "Yes, but I can save this one." Please help me to help him. God said "What you do for the least of these, you do for me." Through God's guidance and grace He will see us through this. Just because something is incredibly hard does not mean it's not good and right and wonderful!
Since home, Luke would look at pictures from the orphanage and always point to one boy in particular. In our quest to find him, I joined several China advocacy Facebook pages and posted pictures, asking of his status. There was also another boy at the orphanage that I felt that I should advocate for also, so posted both boys in hopes that someone would have information and/or be interested in adopting. Unfortunately, in China, the boys are the ones that seem least likely to be adopted, and then add a special need, and it's a double whammy. Anyway, in search of the boy from the orphanage, I saw a post about an aging out boy. I felt drawn to this boy and approached my husband about the possibility of bringing an aging-out boy into our family. Within the next few days, a family stepped forward and all was as it should be. But not long after, another aging-out boy was posted and I really only wanted to help advocate for him. I posted and shared the link on him and thought all would be well for this boy too, but days and weeks went by without anyone interested. I asked to look at his file to further find out about this boy. To my astonishment, I found out that he was abandoned at the age of 9 and had only been at the orphanage for 4 years. I listened to an audio interview with him, was touched by his gentleness and responses to the questions asked. I continued to advocate daily for him until one day there was a response from a wonderful family that stepped forward to be his forever family! It was a truly happy day and I felt as though God's mission was accomplished. About a week later, regretfully, the family had to withdraw their intentions of adoption. Such a great family with a big heart, but due to a job sitiuation they were not going to be able to go through with the adoption. So we were back to square one with looking for a family for this boy. I personal messaged so many asking them to consider adopting this child. I messaged anyone I knew remotely interested in adoption to consider him. Still no one. I began to ask myself....could we add this boy to our family? Does God want us to be the family and home for this young man? Is it crazy to think that we could add another child to our already large family? Many questions...but still we wait. We wait for a family to step forward. While waiting, I ask questions to medical professionals about his disability. I ask questions to families that have been to the orphanage and met him. I ask questions of the adoption agency. I ask the questions in hopes that I would then share the answers with the family that would step forward to adopt him. Still a week later, no one and time is ticking for this young man. What was 3 months, was now 2 months that this child has until he ages out and is no longer able to be adopted.
So you can imagine what came next....and my husband knew it was coming. I think he could tell by the way I said his name and the way I put my arms around him. Then it came..."Steve, do you think this boy is meant for us? Should we take this child? Do you think we're the family for him?" If not us, then who?
I'll fast forward through much prayer, discussion, prayer, discussion, prayer, discussion to the decision to make this boy a part of our family and give him a FOREVER FAMILY AND HOME!
So many times I think we want God to tell us exactly what to do and what he expects from us. We wait for everything to become crystal clear, but I guess that's where hope and faith come in. So here we are again, this time taking a GIANT leap of faith. A leap of faith that only God can lead us through. Through this all I just keep hearing God whispering "Where I lead you, I will not leave you." I hang onto that through it all. This giant leap of faith is huge for us all. A teenager is very different from a 6 year old. So many things to think about....educating a 13 year old who may not have had formal education for the first 9 years, the emotional state and self-image of a 13 yr old that has been an orphan, a physical disability with an unknown prognosis and treatment plan. So much more to think about then adopting a 6 year old, but I really feel like this is what we're called to do, we're called to give this boy love and stability and a future.
When my husband was 13 he was in a car accident that took the lives of his father, mother, and 16 year old brother. He was the lone survivor and what once was a happy, loving family was diminished to him figuring out life without the most precious people to him. Thankfully his aunt, along with her children, came from California to NC to care for him and along with much love and attention from families within our community, he grew into a happy, loving individual and devoted father with a successful career. I can't help but think of my Steve when I see this lonely 13 year old boy in China, one who needs and deserves the love of a family and the stability of a home.
I know we'll get the questions, "Why? Why do you want to do this?" My answer is "Why not? Why not give something to a child that they may never have? When you have something that you feel you can share, to not share that gift is a waste.
Our last adoption took 1 year to complete with time to save and time to plan and time to gather paperwork and documents. This time we are having to expedite things very quickly. Everything has to be completed and in China by June 1st. This means that all this has become "a labor of love" for this child. I'll need to be sure everything moves on a tight timeline, lots of prayers that everyone involved in the process understands the urgency of what we're doing, and lots of prayers that we can all hang in there and move quickly to bring this boy home.
With the costs of speech therapy and a cochlear implant for our first adopted child, and then the costs of tutor/private schooling, therapies, and orthopedic treatment for our new son-to-be, we are going to be stretching it to add the costs of this sudden adoption process. I promised my husband to take on the adoption costs and leave the rest to him, which is a heavy burden itself. So here I am trying my best to fundraise the quickest way possible and raise funds to make this happen.
When I shared my thoughts of adopting this child with someone, their response was, "Lori, you can't save them all." And I totally get that, but my thought as I walked away was "Yes, but I can save this one." Please help me to help him. God said "What you do for the least of these, you do for me." Through God's guidance and grace He will see us through this. Just because something is incredibly hard does not mean it's not good and right and wonderful!
Organizer
Lori Yang
Organizer
Salisbury, NC