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.