"Americans, please help..."

This is a guest post by Jake's mom, Debbie. She spent some time in Carter's country in December to help a family bring home their sweet 3 year old boy with Down syndrome. 

These were words spoken to me in broken English by an Eastern European nanny on Dec 22, 2010. You can read that guest post HERE.  Exactly 5 months ago , I was in Eastern Europe helping the Birchbach family bring Elijah home. What an experience that was. I went over quite blinded to this part of the world. I had no idea conditions like this even existed. No idea there are really orphanages. At the time this nanny spoke these words to me, I had only been there for 3 days. I remember so clearly asking God why exactly he had me there. I knew I was there to help with Elijah and be a support to Jill but I knew there was more. As we walked the compound every day with Elijah I had this deep nagging feeling there was more for me. More than being a voice for these children. As we were heading to the airport in the wee hours of the morning to bring Elijah home I wrestled with my thoughts and leaving behind so many precious children. How could I walk away and return to my comfortable life 5000 miles away knowing the truth of how orphans live? My husband had wanted to adopt years ago but in my selfishness I denied him that desire and now we are too old to adopt. Agony is what I was experiencing. Here are the definitions of agony 1) extreme physical or mental suffering. Yup I was suffering mentally. 2) a sudden or intense emotion. big check mark there by intense emotions. The third definition is the best: The struggle that precedes death. It took a trip 5000 miles away from family and another trip back home to realize God's plans for me in all of this. Here is what I now know to be true and what I learned about myself. The labels given to some children..like special needs and disabled...are actually labels belonging to me. I have been the one disabled in my narrow minded thinking. I never understood why anyone would choose to adopt someone elses "cast away". It took taking me out of my comfort zone, my comfortable life style and away from my family for the Lord to show me. That third definition for agony..the struggle that precedes death..is what I needed to experience. I needed to die to my selfishness and narrow minded self in order to be open to this next stage in my life. Dying came with a struggle but God trades ashes for beauty. That beauty is Carter B Gibson, our own little eastern european grandson to love...and boy do I love him! I wish I could somehow get word to that nanny who spoke those words 5 months ago. Word that another orphan has found a forever home. Carter is going to be a world changer! Elijah Birschbach is a world changer. He taught me unconditional love! And in the famous words of Paul Harvey, Now you know the rest of the story!