This post will give you a little history of the beginning of our journey into foster care, adoption, and special needs.
It all began with one little angel….
“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Exodus 23:20
The bible says to be hospitable, because we may be entertaining angels in disguise. He surely sent us Kavasi to prepare us for this 10-year (so far) journey. God used Kavasi to change us, teach us, and mold us. To prepare us for everything that was to come and that is still to come. We give all the glory to God, and we thank God for our angel Kavasi.
Before the journey begins:
In 2008 I gave birth to my baby girl. After 2 boys, I was relieved to have had her. Now we could stop if we wanted and not feel like we missed out on anything.
He speaks in a still small voice…. and I don’t listen!
As new Christians, we were just beginning to recognize when God was putting something on our hearts. He was whispering in my ear – adoption.
We tossed the idea around a little, as if it came from our own thoughts. I even looked up adoption agencies in Hawaii, not many choices there. But there was one that stood out to me, Christian agency in state, but on another island.
A few YEARS later….
I get invited to a fundraiser for that exact agency: Hope, INC (Hope, In The Name Of Christ). The only Christian adoption agency in the islands, and find out that they had moved to just down the street! Ok, God, I get the picture. I better give them a call.
My husband and I find ourselves at an in-person training followed by an interview with the agency's social workers. These two incredible women, who would go on to bless us beyond measure, were being very patient with us at the time.
They ask, what kind of child would you consider adopting?
We respond: a child younger than our own kids, a baby or newborn, as healthy as possible, and maybe one that looks like us too. They may have inwardly rolled their eyes. But they kept it to themselves.
Please note:
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with wanting to adopt a healthy infant of your own race. I’m not judging people who do that. There is a need for families to do this, but this was clearly not what God was calling US to do.
Later that night my husband and I come to our senses. We wanted to adopt because we want to help a child in need. We were being called to help a child who had nowhere else to go.
Within the next few days we met with the agency again and asked: What kids are there that might need us?
And they showed us this picture:
Almost 2 years old, his description said he was paralyzed from the neck down and had a seizure disorder (these were very vague and not quite accurate descriptions, which is common).
He was in danger of aging out of the medical fragile infant program he was in and might end up in a meical facility if they did not find him a home soon.
We were like, ok we’ll take him.
If they were surprised, they didn’t let on. When I look back on it now, I’M surprised.
We went to visit Kavasi in Honolulu and fell head over heels in love with him .
I'm the type of person who can fall in love with a child from a picture, or even just from hearing the story of a child in need. My husband has more common sense than that. But even for him, once we met this chubby, smiley little guy, it was all over. Even as a baby, Kavasi was CHARISMATIC. However, his medical situation was far worse than we had anticipated.
Something supernatural was going on…..
At this point in our journey, God took over for us. We have no medical background and we live on a rural island with no children’s hospital.
Family members who were very close to us told us we were making a huge mistake and we were going to ruin our lives and the lives of our birth children.
I can see now that God blinded us.
Kavasi has cerebral palsy. He will have to travel almost monthly to Honolulu to see specialists. Kavasi is having massive uncontrolled convulsions, up to 10 and hour and some as long a 15 minutes long. Kavasi is fed through a tube in his stomach. He doesn’t tolerate the feedings very well and he throws up multiple times a day.
And still we were like, ok, sure no problem.
God makes us a vessel.
In hindsight, it’s like watching a movie. Someone else was getting this training, jumping through all these hurdles, watching Kavasi’s precarious health situation worsen. Knock knock: We were not at home. GOD WAS WORKING THROUH US!
The closest I have ever been to God.
It was the fasted first placement ever. Within six weeks we were licensed and had Kavasi in our home.
I spent the majority of that time on my knees. I had never felt that close to God in my life. I was taking a pure leap of faith and it was absolutely terrifying and 100% amazing.
It was a wonderful whirlwind and I can see now that God was moving mountains to bring our son home to us…..
Things we've learned along the way, if you take a leap of faith – something really big and out of your comfort zone :
1. You are changed, grown, and developed more than you could ever be on your own.
2. You become a vessel for God as he works through you.
3. You get closer to God than you ever could have imagined.
Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great. Luke 9:48
Love this! What a special little man he is....he makes your heart melt!!! His joy is contagious! Love your heart and your