Warm your heart kind of story

As it is National Adoption month, and I find myself on this incredible journey, I found it fitting that I should share this wonderful story with my fellow adoptive blog faithful friends. This is going to be long, so please bear with me.
Everyone has their own story on how they opened their heart to adopt a child. For some, it's infertility, for others it's because they were adopted and always knew they wanted to adopt, for others they just felt a calling to adopt. The reasons are vast and various and wonderful. We came to adopt because we wanted another child. We thought we just wanted one, but when my sister had her second baby (3 years ago!) and I went to visit her and see the baby, I fell hopelessly in love and came home wanting to be a mother again. My husband is a true sport-a father to a 27 year old son, 25 year old daughter, and then our son, age 9, and is opening his life to yet another child, and he's got 10 1/2 years on me! Before this conversation had even taken place, I had met a wonderful lady while volunteering at field day at my son's school, when he was in first grade. We immediately hit it off, and come to find out that years ago, she worked with my husband-such a small world. She and her husband have 2 children, and when I met her, they were foster parents to another child. Laura is a wonderfully spiritual person and her and her husband have the biggest hearts and are the most incredible family that I have ever met. Laura's mother in law was approached by a man who knew of a little girl who needed a place to live for a year while she had surgery at Shriner's hospital. The little girl had been burned in a fire when she was 7 days old, the netting on her bassinet caught fire and her entire face and hair was burned. It's an incredible story, but this little girl, who came to them at 4 with no boundaries, is now a thriving 8 year old who is now reading and writing and just doing fabulously, and in process of her 2nd surgery to help remake her face. If you would like to read more, Laura has made a blog. She said I inspired her to make a blog..ME-how cool is that. :) The school has really embraced Lina and she is just this beautiful soul.
http://amiracleinthemaking.blogspot.com

ANYWAY, they decided to adopt Lina, and they had to go to Columbia to officially adopt her, since that is where she was born. While they were there, they went to the orphanage where she was left after she was burned, and they were giving toys to the children there. Her husband came home and Laura was still waiting in Columbia with Lina, , and imagine my suprise when he told me that Laura would be coming home soon, BUT, with another child as well.
One of the children that they met at the orphange touched their hearts. They set the wheels in motion and had to get a new i-171h to adopt him, which was done in record time. John came to Florida with his new parents, age 6, and didn't speak ANY english, only spanish. He is an adorable child with an incredible wit and he's an incredible athlete. You can see their family picture if you go look at Lina's blog above.
Let's fast forward a year-John is now a happy, well adjusted 1st grader that speaks fluent english. In fact, he picked up english a couple months after arriving. He just broke some school records in athletics for first grade. He jumped 9 FEET in the running broad jump, among others. He just rec'd a "key of excellence" from his teacher for always doing his work in his neatest handwriting and always doing his best. Last week, while I was talking to another mom, John came up to us and was waiting politely while we finished talking. I said, HEY buddy, what's up? I'm so proud of you-way to get your key of excellence! He said, thank you! I said, so what's up? He said, "I just wanted to give you a hug". He gave me the biggest hug and then went to class. Needless to say, I was in tears and so was the lady I was talking to.

It's hard to fathom how much John's life has changed since he was adopted by this wonderful family. When he got into the 50 book club, and he broke the athletic records, and he received his key of excellence, I just kept thinking-what a blessing this child is!! He has the warmest, sweetest smile and he's just amazing. It would take me pages and pages to describe the differences in these children after being adopted by this family. It truly makes your heart swell. It reminds me of that Lion King song.."The circle of life" as their lives affect so many people around them.

I had met Laura before we had even considered adoption. I was so amazed by her and her family and we just "hit it off" as friends. When I approached her about adoption, she said, "I always KNEW there was a reason that I met you", and a week later she had made an appointment with her adoption agency for us to go together on a fact finding mission. Now, it's 6 months later and my dossier has been in Kazakhstan for 3 weeks and we are decorating a nursery.

I am blessed to have someone like her family in my life, so that I can see first hand what a difference those children make to everyone around them. The feeling is really indescribable when I see Lina and John. Not only have their lives been forever changed, but the affect they have on other people's lives as well.
When I get anxious or worried about this process, I call Laura who immediately puts my anxieties at ease and reminds me of how good God is!

And to think, I inspired her to do a blog. It's crazy!

So, I'm sorry this is SO very long, but I wanted to try to put into words my feelings on adoption, to make my contribution to National Adoption Month.
I had no idea I would love this journey so much and meet so many incredible people along the way. To the people who tell us "You are making such a difference in a child's life", yes, we are, but really "They are making a differnce in our life" and that is WHY we are doing it!!
The waiting can be hard, but the rewards are beyond amazing!