Medical appointment- a slice of heaven

All adopted kiddos have to have a medical exam in order to get their visas. Today our family and many others went for their medical appointments. It took about 2 hours and each kiddo had to go through 4 stations: ENT, nurse's station, general wellness and TB blood draw. It was hot, crowded and chaotic and very stressful for many of the kids.

Per usual, Joey handled it with patience and cooperation. Although his official diagnosis is arthrogryposis and club feet, he has a lot of other things going on. Some things we knew about and some we found out about today. We're anxious to get him home and begin getting him proper treatment.  What we do know is that it's a miracle that he's walking and functioning at the level he is in his condition. He is very determined and God has really been watching out for him.

There were all kinds of adoptive families there today. Single parents, parents adopting 2 at one time, large families with grandparents for support, parents who have adopted many times.  All of the kids had some kind of special need: vision impaired, hearing impaired, down syndrome, spina bifida , cerebral palsy, cleft lip/palate...But all the families had one thing in common: in the midst of chaos, their new parents were the calm for their new child. Despite only knowing their new little one a few days, they held, rocked, soothed and comforted their new child in the midst of chaos.

It occurred to us that this might be what heaven looks like. Meeting the hurt and broken where they are and loving them. 

Adoptive parents aren't unique or special. They are normal people who simply said yes. They stepped out of fear and responded to the scary call to care for the orphan. God does the rest. He equips and empowers us. He knits the children into our hearts so perfectly that we no longer see a diagnosis but just a precious child worthy of our time and attention. Yes it's scary and hard and exhausting, but no one ever said it would be easy. It's all so worth it.

We're so blessed to be a part of this. It wasn't just a medical appointment. It was sacred and holy ground, as is this entire trip. I wouldn't want to be walking anywhere else.