Within 30 seconds he had entered, captured everyone's attention, and gotten right into the middle of what was going on. All at 2 feet tall. Over the next few weeks, I experienced more and more of Josiah's personality. I couldn't help but think of him as fiery and feisty. And that's exactly where the name Josiah came in. Whenever I meet a new child in the orphanage, I learn their Chinese name and then give them an English name. (They often won't ever hear their own English name, but it helps us English speakers to understand as we talk about the kiddos we love!) Josiah means "Fire of the Lord" and seems to encompass Josiah as he is, and all that I hope and pray for his future. He was fiery as he picked out coloring pages each week ("This one. No. That one. NO! This one!"), fiery when he got marker on his hands ("I need to wash my hands! Help!"), and fiery when he played with balloons ("Make me a sword!" and then... "Chaaarge!"). Of course, a fiery personality in a now 4 year old has its struggles. There have been countless moments that Josiah demanded a toy or thing from me, and I said no. Tantrums, crying, throwing himself on the floor, those have all been part of our experiences together. But he is learning that my word is final, and we have reached a point where he will often comply if I ask him to "Ask nicely and you can have it." Amidst all of the struggles, sheer joy and unlimited laughter have been the highlights. Josiah was the first child I introduced to books, and we read that Fruit board book for hours before moving on to Vehicles. Turns out that books are the only thing that keep him still for more than 2 minutes at a time. Tickles, chasing, hiding, and being sneaky are some of my favorite memories with Josiah, and we have spent countless mornings together laughing and hiding and sneaking around corners to scare each other. Nearly all of the children in China's orphanages have special needs, but it was a long time before I learned Josiah's special need. Just a few months ago, we discovered his diagnosis, one that caused him to have small stature, clumsiness, and some lack of control over his muscles. This explained the nearly constant bruise on his forehead from falling on his face so often. I started bringing toys for Josiah that helped develop his fine and gross motor skills, and he loved them. All the while, I hoped and prayed for Josiah's adoption file to be completed so he could be made available for adoption. This spring, it finally happened. We started advocating for Josiah through BAAS (an adoption agency in the States that we work alongside), hoping that through our pictures and videos his forever family would find him. Earlier this month, I got an email from Rachel. Rachel had seen a picture of Josiah and wanted to know more. We shared several emails back and forth, and she finally decided to move forward and pursue little Josiah! Rachel has a son and daughter who were also adopted from China, and Josiah's picture and fiery personality immediately reminded her of her son, who is also "a feisty, fiery, center of the party tiny guy." The three of them are so excited to be pursuing Josiah and can't wait to welcome him into their family. Before anything was sure, they had started affectionately calling him "Jay." As it turns out, that is the name they have decided to stick with as Josiah-now-Jay joins their family. We can't wait to meet them and introduce them to their son and brother.
We hope that this is the first of many family stories we get to tell you in the future.
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A note from Rebekah...If you've ever wondered what it would be like to start a nonprofit from the ground up, to open a home for ORPHANS with special needs in Asia, you've come to the right place. Archives
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