The other night I was online and I was scrolling thru the waiting child lists of Guatemalan children who await loving families to adopt them. I noticed how many boys there are waiting for families .
It broke my heart.......... it always breaks my heart. Truly.
As a mother to 5 boys .... can I tell you that boys are GREAT??? Boys are awesome!
Boys are fun! Boys are so funny! Boys are truly a delight!
When we decided to adopt years ago --- we had at the time 3 daughters and one son.
We made our plans to prepare to adopt a son from Guatemala. We got our paperwork all ready to go.
We jumped thru the government "hoops" and became approved for one boy or twin boys. :)
God placed in my heart the idea that we may be blessed with 2 boys - not one!!!
Well, as always God was right and we ended up adopting twin boys!
They were 13 months at the age of referral and 21 months when they came home.
Can I tell you - they brought a lot of energy to our quiet home! Our home was never the same again!
The twins really did add a joy to our house. They were happy and they were full of life!
They added a new energy to our home, to say the least. :)
Later that year we opened up our home to yet another boy. Samuel was on a waiting child list.
He was 4 yrs old and waiting for a forever family. We knew that the chances of placing a school age boy were not high. We prayed, we searched our hearts and we decided that yes, we undoubtably had enough love and room to share our lives with one more son!
Samuel came home at almost 5 yrs of age. He was a quiet and sweet boy. Very mild mannered and
very sensitive to others. A champion of the "under dog" I call him! He was and continues to be a delight!
In 2004 we again felt the desire to adopt another waiting boy........ in came our Alma Jon...... he was 1 yrs old and had been waiting a long time for a family to call his own. We again decided to open our heart to another waiting boy. Alma has brought added joy to our home. He is a happy soul - loves to play and be a part of the craziness of our large family. :)
Can I tell you that all our sons were waiting boys? Each one of them had been waiting for a forever familiy to claim their "own". My husband and I have been blessed with these boys.
They are a delight! They are a joy!
Boys are wonderful - and while I love my dear girls - can I say that boys in many ways are esier to parent?
They are definately less emotional! They are more forgiving. Less likely to hold a grudge and more prone to "jump in and join the fun"! They are also very loving. Boys love their moms! They are just as affectionate as their sisters.
They are just as tender. They are very demonstrative and will often come up to me and give me one of those awesome "bear" hugs that I love! THey are full of kisses and hugs! They are a JOY!
It really breaks my heart to see so many waiting boys...........in Guatemala and all over the world waiting for loving families to call their own. Statics show that well over the majority of prospective adoptive parents hope to adopt a girl. So many boys wait months to be placed.
For those of you considering adoption can I encourage you to consider a boy? They are so wonderful!
As a mom to 5 very wonderful boys - I can tell you that I love them just as much as I do my girls!
My prayer is that more Guatemalan adoptive parents will open their hearts to a boy...........most agencies have no waiting lists for a boy. Do you think maybe you could be that one to open their heart to a boy?
I can promise you that you won't regret it! You will love your son as much as you would adopting a girl.
You will find JOY in so may ways!
I am grateful for my boys. They bless my life. They add excitement to my home!
My prayer continues to be ........... that more precious boys will find loving homes -- families to call their own.
Blessings,
Gloria
mom to 5 Guatemalan blessings
It has been a while since I asked myself this question.......... but there always seems to be someone that we run into that asks us this question....... "why Guatemala"........ what made us decide to adopt from this small central American country? Have you ever had friends or strangers stop and ask you "why" you chose Guatemala of all the countries in the world to adopt from? I mean if you really stop to think of it, of all the countries in the world..........." Why Guatemala"?
To answer that question would take a simple answer from me.... ' because that is where God led us' to!! That sounds so simple - and yet it really isn't! It's really a miracle to consider how God has woven the series of events that led us to our 5 beautiful children from Guatemala! Each of their stories are filled with small miracles and big ones too........ and the hand of God so evidently seen woven thru the entire process to bring them home!
But aside from the fact that God led us to adopt our children -- there were some other factors that made Guatemala stand out to us as we began our adoption journey years ago.First of all being the daughter of Cuban immigrants it was a "natural" shoe in for me to want to adopt a Latin American child. I grew up in a very ethnic home and felt very drawn to the culture, language and climate of Guatemala! I had also spent significant time in South American as a missionary before I was married, and I loved my time there as well. Overall -- my heart was always drawn to Latin America - I wanted to be able to share and impart in my children's birth culture and the more I read about Guatemala and it's rich cultural history the more comfortable I felt in being able to parent a child from this beautiful country.
The second thing that really drew our attention to Guatemala was the fact that most of the children being placed for adoption were being cared for in loving foster homes vs. state orphanages and institutions. We knew when we began our adoption journey that attachment and bonding would be very important to us. We wanted to be able to have a sense of peace that our future children would be able to attach well to our family. All of our 5 Guatemalan children had been cared for in loving foster homes or small group homes ( hogar) before coming home. We are confident that they received loving care and attention. As we met with each of our foster moms we could clearly see that they had loved these precious children and that the children were also attached to them! As many of you have expiernced the tearful parting of a loving foster mom - is there any doubt that loving and quality foster care is such a blessing in the lives of our children? I am aware that at times there is situations where a child is not able to receive quality foster care and they suffer. My heart breaks for these children and I know their parents have also felt the pain of what their children endured prior to coming home. I don't think I am out of line though to say that for the majority of children in foster care in Guatemala - they do experience a loving and attentive caregiver and a special bond is developed between the foster family and the child. At least for dru and I , foster care was a huge thing to us and we feel so thankful to the many wonderful foster families who have made a difference in the lives of our children!
When examining Guatemala's adoption program we were also appreciative of the fact that Guatemala in country stay time was fairly short.
With children at home - dru and I knew that it would not be wise to spend weeks away from them. We were thankful we could make our trips of such length that would not impact the children anxiously waiting for mom and dad and new sib back home!! When we travelled together the first time to bring home our twins in 2002 - we were able to spend a few extra days in Guatemala and it was nice to be able to meet some other adoptive parents and enjoy our time of "getting to know" our new sons!
Our son, Samuel came home late in the fall of 2002 and dru was able to travel with our oldest son to bring him home. I was thankful that Guatemala's adoption laws allow for parents to travel together or if they choose to just send one parent for the visa appointment. I am also aware that there are families who choose to escort their children home.
The flexibility of choices in travel arrangements was very helpful to us.
One of the highlights of our adoption journeys is our "visit trips". Other than the country of Haiti - I am not aware of any other country program that allows the adoptive parents to visit their child they are adopting prior to finalization. I know many parents look forward to these memorable trips when they can visit with their new children and enjoy this time of "getting to know each other" ............ what a blessing! The other added benefit of visiting is that our children are able to come home on an IR3 visa and immediately
qualify for Citizenship. ( if being adopted by U.S. parents). For the adoption of our 2 youngest children we had the added blessing of being able to "foster them" in beautiful
La Antigua, Guatemala! That was such a choice experience! Our family experienced so much! We grew so much and learned so much! We had the great blessing of being able to care for our 2 children! I know of no other country where a family is allowed or permitted to care for their children during the adoption process. ( please do correct me if I am mistaken). I have met many other adoptive parents who also had the choice experience of fostering their children during the adoption process and I think we can all say what a great blessing it was for us to be able to spend this special time with our precious children in their beautiful birth country!
There are so many other reasons why we chose Guatemala years ago........ as I watch my children grow and learn and bless our home...... I have no doubt the ultimately God had led us to this beautiful country and these precious children! Each of them is just so perfect for our family - each of them is so unique and so loved!
There is no doubt in my mind that truly we were led to Guatemala. So many reasons "why" we chose Guatemala ........ but ultimately when others ask me "why Guatemala"....... I just smile and say rather confidently ..... " because this is where God led us to!"
Blessings,
Gloria
mom to 5 Guatemalan blessings