needs and labels and John Paul

I think most all of you know that we are adopting John Paul through the China Special Needs program.  And what that means is..... he is considered "special needs".

Raise your hand if you want your child to grow up with the label "special needs".


Exactly.


What about the label "special needs adoption"?


Thought so.


We feel the same way.

There are many thoughts spinning through my head as I think about these words, these labels.

First, all orphans, every single one, share a primary "special need" that surpasses all others - the need for a family.

Second, all of us, each human being walking the face of the earth right now, has a severe "special need" - a need for a Savior who can pay the penalty of our sin and restore us to right relationship with our Creator.

So me, Matt, our other children, John Paul, you.... we're all "special needs".  And those of us who are, through faith in Jesus, restored to relationship with God our Heavenly Father... well, we're "special needs adoption".

That's part of what I think when I hear "special needs adoption".  There's another big part too.  John Paul does have a medical special need identified by China and qualifying him as a special needs adoption..... cleft lip and palate. 

His cleft lip and palate is congenital (present at birth) and was most likely caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.  His lip repair was done when he was 10 months old.  We hope that his palate will be repaired as soon as possible (maybe even before we bring him home).

There are a lot of unknowns and we'll need to have him seen by well-trained physicians to fully understand what lies ahead for him.  Most likely at least one subsequent surgery as he gets older, speech therapy, dental work, ......

Interestingly, his cleft lip and palate probably played a big role in securing him a spot in a foster home.  Cleft lip and palate babies have a hard time eating.  Cleft lip and palate orphans typically gain weight slowly and fail to thrive in an orphanage setting.  John Paul is just about the healthiest looking 14 month old you've ever seen a photo of - his height and weight are above the 50% mark on child growth charts.  Clearly, his foster momma spends a lot of time making sure he gets the nourishment and nutrition that he needs.  Thank You Jesus!

If you're interested in understanding more about cleft lip and palate there is an brief, easy to understand write-up on the Mayo Clinic website.  Click here if you want to take a look.

That's our John Paul.  Most likely he was abandoned because of his cleft lip and palate.  One day he will understand that.  Maybe his momma knew via ultrasound that she was carrying a cleft baby and chose to carry him to term, deliver, and then abandon him.  If so, we are ever-grateful that she gave him the gift of life.  Maybe she didn't know and found out at delivery.  Maybe she wanted to keep him and was pressured by others to give him up?  Maybe she didn't and her decision was totally her own.  So many questions we will never know the answer to. 

But one thing we do know: John Paul was perfectly created by a perfect God who numbered each of his days before even one of them came to be.  The pain in this truth (that some of those perfectly numbered days carry intense pain) does not make the truth any less real.  God is just as much in control of John Paul's life as He is in control of mine.  And yours.  I'm not particularly fond of many parts of my story.  But I am not the author.

So me and John Paul, we're going to walk this road together, of trusting a perfectly good, perfectly wise, perfectly sovereign God to write our stories just the way He pleases, and pray that He will use us to show the whole world that He is worthy of our trust.