Wednesday, January 18, 2012

What A Difference!!!!

Do you all remember this sweet little face? This was the very first time that we laid eyes on our son! He was perfect! We were probably the first people to truly rejoice over his life. We were completely overjoyed and overwhelmed with emotion. To finally hold this precious little life in our hands was a moment we will never ever forget!

This photo was taken mid June 2011. I remember vividly how little he interacted, the lack of eye contact, how frail he seemed, how pale he was, his complete lack of muscle tone, the extreme coarseness of his very little hair, the unbelievable amount of "stuff" in his nose and ears, the dark circles under his eyes, his protruding "C" shaped spine, and the list goes on. And by many accounts, his baby house was better than lots of others. Can you even fathom the least of these that are in the worst of the worst institutions? Honestly my heart and soul can hardly bear it.




And this is the redemption that Derek and I keep speaking of....the beautiful living breathing example of redemption right before our human eyes. This is our precious son! Can you even believe his little face? This photo is from Dec. 2011...just 3 months home with nutrition, love, touch, stimulation, WATER, sunshine, opportunities to explore, and did I mention love?!?:):) I will mention again that he hasn't even had a second of therapy yet (starts this month:).

If you are debating whether adoption truly makes a difference. If you wonder how adopting one child could possibly do anything to decrease the millions of orphaned children around the world. If you wonder how God could call you to rescue and give a home and be a family to the least of these. If you wonder where the money, time, and energy will come from. I ask you to remember that with our God ALL things are truly possible. God did not leave us as orphans. He rescued us! Adoption matters to our Lord. And, as followers of Christ, if it matters to Him, it should to us as well.

We rejoice over all that God is doing in Samuel's life! And we rejoice over the ways that we are forever changed by following the call to this little boy! To God be the glory! I pray we will walk in His ways no matter the cost or sacrifice as long as we have breath and that our children will continue that legacy long after Derek and I are in the arms of Jesus!

Very grateful that my husband was loooking through these photos from our first trip and made the comparison. It renewed my hope in all that God has done and continues to do. Thank you Lord for a Godly husband that stepped out in faith very courageously to bring our son home! And thank you Father...for redemption!

5 comments:

Melanie said...

Beautiful!! Truly what a difference in your little guy. We are so happy to see many of the same changes in our girl. What a blessing and privilege to be a part of serving these little ones and our Lord!!

Scott Family said...

Wow! The pictures are worth a thousand words!

Ginny said...

Unbelievable!!! He is SUCH A HANDSOME little guy!!!!!!! :) He has come such a long long way in such a short time, I know that is very encouraging. Just think how well he'll be doing in a year from now! I pulled this up on my phone and showed several friends I was with last night (some of whom contributed to the yard sale) and all were moved. God is amazing. :)

The Elliotts said...

Love it. We've been home about six weeks and it's amazing the difference from a year ago.

Ben and Melanie said...

He is just perfect and beautiful... Hugs