A Family's Prayer

Our adoption journey began in the spring of 2006 with a simple prayer for a little girl from China. After finishing up many months of paperwork, our family of six rejoiced to hear that our "Log In Date" into China was December 19, 2006. That special date began the official countdown to receive our referral for a precious daughter.

But over the next few months, referrals from China came farther and farther apart. The waiting became more and more painful for our family as our daughter's referral moved out of reach. We were reminded that we had embarked on a faith-filled journey. Even though we wondered while we waited, we held fast to the promise of adding another little one to our family.

GOD'S SPECIAL PLAN

In this difficult time of waiting, we asked to be placed on the Special Needs list. We also had begun to pray about adopting a son from China. As we wondered if God might also be calling us to adopt a little boy, we found a name we loved, Azariah, which means "The LORD helped me."We did not want to miss God's will for our family because we were not willing to be open to other options. So in December 2008 on our second "waiting" anniversary, we called AGCI and talked about our longing for a boy from China after our daughter came home. We asked Kate, AGCI's China coordinator at the time, if she would send over girls and boys from the special needs list for us to pray about.

Kate sent them right away, and we sat before the monitor like so many times before knowing that this part of the process is so painful. We carefully prayed over each child as we read their medical needs and felt so inadequate to help them.

One particular referral caught our eye. It was a little boy, 15 months old, named Heduo. He was diagnosed with hypospadias and "limpy limbs." His face seemed familiar to us. We realized we had seen his medical report two months earlier but had struggled then with the helpless and fearful feelings of his not being able to walk. This time, however, his sweet little eyes drew in our hearts. We could not get Heduo off our minds.

We began to research his medical information online and found out that hypospadias was not critical at all. We inquired about his "limpy limbs," but China did not have any more information on his need. We spent the weekend praying for the Lord's will, that we would know if this little boy with all his needs was our son. We became confident that, even if he never walked on healthy legs, God had a special plan for his life.

THE JOY OF SAYING YES

After two days of prayer, we called another adoptive family and they reassured us that God is faithful and that we would know what He wanted us to do. The Lord would show us His plans for our family and this little boy. They encouraged us with their testimonies of all God had done for the seven children they had adopted, and we knew then deep in our hearts that this little boy was our son.

We called Kate back on Monday and left a message that was filled with uncontrolled sobbing that came from many years of tears, of joy, of waiting, of hope, and of fears. We said "Yes!" to our son and began the race that would bring us together, united with the son we had prayed for, trusting the Lord that one day He would bring our daughter into our family as well, in His time and in His perfect ways.

On March 16, 2009, China placed a frightened, crying baby boy in our arms. Our hearts began to dedicate every moment of our day to give our son the love and health that he so desperately needed and wanted. He could not sit up on his own those first few days, but we fed him good nutritious food, exercised with him, shared plenty of fresh air and sunshine, and just loved him every way we could. By the end of the first week, he sat up with more strength and even gave us the gift of a ready giggle and smile! His tiny legs remained weak, but we would not give up helping him get stronger.

As we prepared to leave China with our new son Azariah, this truly was the little boy the Lord helped! He was so much happier and full of life, it was amazing to watch. It was as if in a blink of an eye he had left behind all that he didn't have before and embraced all that God was giving to him through us. When we arrived home, with the constant care of our loving family, we all watched our Azariah begin to crawl and then stand and walk the furniture. Finally he could stand on his own… and then one day he took his first steps without any assistance! Plus, he could say all our names.

MIRACLES HAPPEN!

It has been one miracle after another. Can you believe it, all these stages happened in only two months! In that short time our sweet little son became a new toddler ready to discover the world around him. He found such joy each day snuggling into our arms as he was rocked to sleep. He loved to walk outside in the green grass, soaking up the warmth of the sunshine. Most of all he loved the butterfly kisses we all lavished on him. Azariah now "runs" to give you a kiss and reach up his arms for a big hug.

As we look back over this past year, we see God's hand and know that He personally placed our precious son into our hearts and our home forever. We cannot imagine our family without the joy that Azariah brings to our lives. We could have missed one of our greatest blessings, if we had not trusted the Lord's guidance and stepped out in faith. Our small plans turned into His big plan – a home for one of His precious orphaned sons.

THE POWER OF ONE HEARTFELT PRAYER

If you are waiting and wondering what God might have planned in His heart for your family, remember it all starts with one heartfelt prayer. All He asks is that we remain faithful through the process and believe that what He has promised He will surely bring to pass. There are so many special children waiting for someone to reach out in faith and be willing to listen to God's heart concerning them. Perhaps God has reserved a place in your family for a little boy or girl who just needs to know through you the Lord longs to help them as He did our Azariah.

Remember, it all started for us with a prayer. Why not stop for a moment right now and say one. I know that God is waiting to answer it in the most amazing miraculous way!