Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Moses Story

 
It was Monday afternoon.
 
We were in a bit of a frenzy.  My trip to the Lost Boys had just been changed from Wednesday to Tuesday.  We had a huge shopping wish list to fill and only a few hours left in the day to get it done.  So we were getting ready to head out the door to fill the list.
 
That's when the doorbell rang.
 
Three people.
 
They were asking for me.
 
What?
 
Me?
 
Who in the world would be looking for me?

I was in a foreign country.  I had told no one where I was staying because I didn't even know where I was staying!!  I mean seriously....  Every single building over there looks exactly like every single building.  That's what happens when the government takes over every aspect of human life.  Cookie cutter buildings that are exactly alike.  Who in the world was looking for me and how in the world could they ever find me??

I went to the front door and looked at the family standing there.

Then it hit me.

I knew who they were.

I ran to my suitcase and brought them the gifts they had come to get.

A picture.

 
 
A photo album.
 
 
They stood there in the foyer and drank in the pictures.
 
 
Every single one brought joy, tears, exclamations.
 
 
I felt like an intruder as they turned page after page.
 
 
They gave their baby up. 
 
When she was born they were told like so many over there are told that she would be better off in an institute.  They were advised like so many over there are advised that keeping her would be unfair.  To them and to her.  She's sick.  Better off with other children like her.  Tucked away. 
 
So they gave her up.
 
Signed away their rights.
 
Put her away.
 
But they were like Miriam as baby Moses was set adrift in a basket... they hung around and watched.  Waited.  Prayed.  Hoped.  Dreamed.  Watched over their babe from the bushes.  Longed for their baby to be found.
 
Prayed for a family.
 
Actively LOOKED for a family.
 
Through the internet they reached out to Reece's Rainbow and begged.
 
They begged for a family for their wee one.
 
 And a family heard their cry.
 
The Niemiec family was in process to get this sweet babe but they were approved to adopt two.
 
 
And when they found out that this babe's family was desperate... they added their wee one on.
 
 
The Little Moses in the basket.
 
Given up in hopes of a better life.
 
The family in the bushes rejoiced when they heard that the Niemiecs had chosen their babe. A joy mixed with sorrow.  Their little one would be carried across the sea to a family who would love her with a fierce and abiding love.  For that they were grateful.  But she was their little one.  Born of their flesh.  Loved.  Being carried far away.  Never to be seen again.  They stood in the bushes and watched from afar as their little one was chosen.
 
Their hearts full.  Yet sad.
 
So before the Niemiecs left.  Before their little one was carried away from them forever. They stepped out of hiding and reached out to the family. 
 
And the Niemiecs reached right back with welcoming arms.
 
Two families.
 
Knit together because of their love for one child.
 
I stood in that foyer and was humbled to be woven into their story for a few minutes.
 
 
We shared tears together though we did not speak the same language.
 
Hugged.  And then hugged again.
 
More tears.  More hugs.
 
They gave their baby up. 
 
I struggle to wrap my brain around that.  I cannot judge because I don't live in their world or walk in their shoes.  I know enough to understand the pressure that was placed on them.  It is intense and hard.  It is the same pressure that caused Aaron's family to leave him at the hospital.  It is a pressure based on years and years of  tradition, mindset, prejudice.  It is the same pressure that is placed on families here when an ultrasound indicates trouble. 
 
Abort.  Abort.  Abort. 
 
The lies that a child with an extra chromosome would be better off dead than born.  The lies that a child's life would not be worth living with this or that disability.  The lies that a child with special needs will place too heavy a burden on the rest of the family.
 
They gave her up and it was a heart-wrenching decision.
 
They gave her up and then wondered, agonized, grieved over their decision.
 
Thankfully she was chosen.
 
Thankfully she was rescued from having to spend her entire life hidden away, institutionalized.  Baby house.  Mental institute.  Nursing home.  That was what giving her up meant.  The promises of a better life were empty words.  Words they believed in.
 
But she was chosen.
 

Not a burden to a family across the ocean.
 
Little Moses.
 
With her extra chromosome.
 
And because she was chosen, she is loved by two families on both sides of the ocean.
 
One family watching her grow up in their arms.
 
 
The other family watching her grow up through pictures.
 
 

 
 
Both families knit together forever because of this one precious little treasure.

 
It was one of the sweetest parts of my trip.  To stand in that foyer with a family who loved their babe from afar. 
 
Their little Moses.
 
Rocking the world on both sides of the ocean.
 
 
 
 

13 comments:

  1. Heart rending. What a precious, precious little girl.

    So glad you got to be the gift bearer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Huge, wet tears rolling down cheeks. Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. SPEECHLESS!!!!!!!!!! Please compile your entire blog into a book!
    Kelly

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your blog post should come with tissue warnings. My lunch is all soggy now. I have a daughter I adopted through foster care. We still visit with her birth family. It is bittersweet. I have heard many times that adoption is about love and it is but it is also about loss. Oh how my heart aches for this family and hopes that one day the culture will change but until that time I am so grateful that these two families have come together. A child can never have enough family to love them :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sobbing. I cannot imagine! That sweet girl is so very blessed by the sacrificial love of two amazing families! GOD is so good.

    ReplyDelete
  6. As a birth mother, I can say we treasure the families that our children are with. When i could not provide a home and everything my child needed, they were there. I believe God knew where my child needed to be, with her family. I like to think he needed to touch a few more lives through her along the way. Thank you for letting me see another family. My heart is overflowing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for posting this story. Thankful little Moses baby is soooo loved. What a blessing for her birth family to be able to see how she is doing.
    Yes, tissue warnings would come in handy! Love you and your gift for writing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think what surprised me the most was that the family looks so upper-middle class (which assumes education, financial security, etc.). Obviously that is a judgment I'm making but in my mind I always stereotyped that it was poor, single moms giving up these poor treasures. Maybe it was the only way I could logically understand how they could truly leave them in those institutions where care is so lacking. This story reset my compass to remind me what I knew, that it truly is cultural issue, as well as other factors at play, if a family that looks as loving as this family does would give up that precious baby. I hope if they read your blog they know how we consider their daughter and others with special needs to be blessings and they might be part of an education process for others in their country.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love those pictures. She looks like her birth family. I love how dad is holding onto the book:)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Just a teeny little picture of a box of kleenex would be great. Some little warning that crying will be involved should the reader persist...on another note anyone else notice how much that child looks like her bio parents? People are always saying how much kiddos with Ds look like each other, but I disagree.

    ReplyDelete
  11. the impact of one life...WOW

    ReplyDelete
  12. This story is both heartwarming and -breaking. It's one of the most amazing things I've heard of in a very long time. I hope the families will keep in touch. How bitterweet. Thank you for sharing. //Anna H

    ReplyDelete

Loving words from kind people make our hearts glad!