First of all, his name will be "Hudson" which is the profile name given to him by our agency. He is not called by this name (yet) or even aware of it; most agencies simply choose a name for each file for privacy reasons, and probably choose English names because they are easier for Americans to pronounce and remember. But we love the sound of it, and the fact that Hudson Taylor was a missionary to China, so we are keeping it! We will also be keeping his Chinese name as his middle name, and he can choose which name he prefers to go by. I can't share his "real" name publicly, but I'll tell you that it also starts with an 'H' and it has a very significant meaning to me which I eluded to in a previous post. You'll understand why in a few moments.
But before the "name" story, let me share with you some of his characteristics that we learned from his file!
He is sharp-minded and a quick learner. He won a silver medal in a handwriting contest (writing Mandarin characters of course). He can recite ancient Chinese poetry for school. He follows directions and behaves very well; is "only occasionally naughty, but overall easy and obedient." (We will see about that, haha!) He is happy and extroverted and gets along well with others. He likes to help out with the younger children in the orphanage.
And THIS was the best line:
And THIS was the best line:
"When other children misbehave, he can stop them with a word or a mild gesture; therefore, he has earned the nickname "King of the Children."
That made me laugh so hard. I love it. I think our kids have met their match!
Does he not sound AMAZING? On one hand, I can't believe this boy has been waiting so long for a family without someone realizing that he's a gem!! On the other hand, I'm so blessed that it worked out for him to join OUR family!
God has been preparing our hearts for him for longer than we realized. We have mentioned before that 98% of the orphans in China are considered "Special Needs" which is a term used very broadly even for minor imperfections, and over half of those available are boys. This is drastically different from the face of adoption the world is familiar with, from over a decade ago, when a majority of children available were baby girls, and healthy ones. That was what we expected to find when we first looked into adopting from China a few years ago. We assumed we would be adopting a healthy baby girl who needed a home. I remember the day that we were informed of the new reality of China adoption...and I remember thinking that we just couldn't handle it. I also remember how God opened my eyes to those children, and broke my heart for them. They deserve love, they deserve a family to care for them, and they deserve a chance to reach their fullest potential in life. Then I heard this song by Third Day come on the radio that says of God, "Your love is like a river flowing from my heart..." and I cried my eyes out and said, "YES, God, we CAN handle it because YOUR LOVE can flow from our hearts!" Less than 2 years later, Violet joined our family. I can't even imagine what we would've missed out on if we had walked away and not let God work in our hearts.
So fast forward to now, where we've learned so much and have met so many amazing families in the adoptive world who each have a beautiful story of how their precious child came into their lives. Over and over I hear things like, "He/She has a special need that we had not even considered...and we are so glad we took the leap of faith!" And we have found that the terms "mild" and "severe" are so relative. Some people consider cleft palate to be a severe need due to the surgeries required to repair it, while others consider it a minor need because it's able to be corrected just by surgery! I believe that God has designed each of these adoptive families differently to help line them up with the right child for their family.
In Hudson's case, his special need must seem very severe to many people. That's the only reason I can imagine he has waited so long. But it doesn't seem like that big of a deal to us after really thinking about it and doing some research. I thought, "What?! That's it?!! He is completely healthy and strong!" When he was born they called him "disabled", but I don't really like that word because he seems to be perfectly "able" to me!
Hudson was born with "Congenital Absence of Lower Limbs, and Syndactyly of Right Hand". In plain terms, he was born without legs and the middle three fingers of his right hand were fused together. But he was- and is- beautiful.
About 2 years ago he had surgery to separate his fingers on his hand, which was already functioning just fine as he could write and use a spoon with it. He also got fitted for prosthetic legs and quickly learned to walk with them. He could get around just fine (probably even faster) without them, but there are definitely some benefits to using prostheses. We have spoken with an orthopedic expert and his is very optimistic that Hudson will be able to do just about whatever he sets his mind to! I have a feeling God is going to do something amazing through his life, and I feel privileged to have a front row seat. :-)
Now for the "Name Story"
Have you heard of a man named Nick Vujicic? Look him up. He's a Christian inspirational speaker born without arms or legs, and travels around the world sharing his story and encouraging people to find God's purpose for their life. Curt & I saw him speak at an event in 2010 and I've been following his ministry ever since. (www.lifewithoutlimbs.org)
He played a lead role in an award-winning short film called "The Butterfly Circus." It's only 20 minutes long, and totally worth seeing. I can't even count how many times I've watched it. Here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p98KAEif3bI
I have two favorite lines from the movie.
"The greater the struggle,
the more glorious the triumph."
and
"YOU are MAGNIFICENT."
(When the circus master sees Nick a.k.a. "Will"
for the first time).
So when I saw Hudson's photo for the first time, I thought, "HE is MAGNIFICENT." You know this part of the story...I printed his file and posted it on the fridge so we could pray for him. Every time I walked by, I looked at his smiling face and said, "YOU are MAGNIFICENT!" After a couple of weeks, as we were praying and seeking God's direction, I happened to notice that I could zoom into one of his photos and see a name tag with his Chinese name in both Pinyin (like our alphabet) and Mandarin characters. So I looked it up in my translator app. When the translation came up on my screen my heart leapt right out of my chest. His name literally means....are you ready for this? "Magnificent." No joke. I had been calling him by name for weeks and didn't even know it. It was like God shouted HE'S YOUR SON, GO GET HIM!
We love him. We know it won't always be easy, because kids are kids, and adoption itself comes with a whole other set of challenges, and adopting an older child adds a few more, but our love is a commitment, and it's unconditional. We are trusting that God will provide the strength and wisdom required to parent each of our children and meet their individual needs.
I have to admit I was very fearful of sharing our news with family and friends...I was pretty sure everyone would just look at us like we're crazy. But the love and support we are receiving has been such an encouragement. We would be on this journey regardless of popular opinion, but it sure is nice when you are surrounded by a crowd of people cheering you on and covering you in prayer! So we THANK YOU! May God be glorified!
(For more details and photos, please join our private group on facebook. Just send me a note and I'll add you.)
