Dear Life,
Today Kumaka started with his basketball league.
He is the youngest on the team. But he is amazing to watch. HE HAS NO FEAR. He was playing with high school kids who are very physical...and he held his own.
He called for the ball, he tried to steal the ball (multiple times), he figured out how to pick up the ball from the ground, and he had a blast.
It's like he was made to play. I laughed out loud so many times watching him. It was a joyous moment.
I saw him loving every moment of it.
I saw him doing what his brother does.
I saw him playing with the big kids and owning his ability.
It was something to see.
I thought about those dark days...the days of uncertainty. The days when we only heard doctors voices...and had no idea what to expect. No one told us that we would see something as fantastic as my son saying "Hey guys...you wanna go play?" to high school kids.
No one told us that he would literally dance when finding out he was going to get to play. No one told us that he would light up our life with his smile.
If only the doctors could have said "You know, we don't have any guarantees ..but check out this family's blog...contact this family...see what is available in your area," instead of scaring us. So grateful to programs like Rancho Los Amigos Wheelchair Sports who treat kids in wheelchairs like kids....and teach them sportsmanship, independence, and love for the game.
Today was a joy...today was another miracle.
Dear Life,
A child was born six years ago.
Our child.
We were terrified of what caring for him would entail.
We were even scared that his life would not be a long and full life.
We didn't know what to expect.
Over the past six years, our son has had to deal with difficult things.
Multiple surgeries.
Multiple infections.
Multiple bone breaks.
Multiple hospital stays.
We were warned.
We knew that could happen.
We didn't care.
The day he was born was one of the most difficult days of our lives.
It was also one of the most beautiful.
We met an angel on earth that day.
We call him Kumaka.
His smile lights up the whole room.
His strength buoys us up in times of difficulty.
His determination defies all odds.
His life is a miracle.
We didn't choose Spina Bifida.
It chose him.
But Spina Bifida does not keep him down.
It does not define him.
His spirit, his strength, his determination is his.
Last year we started talking about ways we can give back.
How can we help other children with Spina Bifida have a wonderful life and opportunities like Kumaka has?
One night, we were perusing Children's House International file of children needing to be adopted.
We noticed the program for children in Eastern Europe that have Spina Bifida.
We started looking at all of these beautiful children.
We wept.
We contacted someone from the agency.
She sent us files of a few children.
We saw the most beautiful, brown haired, brown eyed baby girl.
Our eyes immediately teared up.
It was like she was calling for us from the computer.
We started the initial paperwork.
And we started praying.
Praying for wisdom on how to raise the funds necessary to bring home our girl.
We've been blessed by many...
We've done a few different things.
One day I found a website that does shoe drives for fundraising.
I called them up.
We discussed what was necessary.
We signed up.
5000 pairs of used shoes is what we have to collect.
" I can get that done" I thought to myself.
I had no idea the magnitude of what 5000 pairs of shoes was.
I just knew that we needed that money to bring home Sofi.
I knew that we could do it somehow.
I started posting the shoe drive on Facebook.
A few pairs of shoes started coming in.
We went on our trip with Make A Wish and didn't talk about it at all.
We came back and it was Christmas.
January 1st we barely had 1000.
I knew we could do it.
We just needed to talk about it.
So we talked more.
Shared photos.
Asked people to do drives.
We started getting more shoes.
And then two weeks ago happened.
One day our shoe drive blanketed Facebook.
It was being shared by so many people we couldn't keep track.
As fast as we could count, people would bring more.
We then started seeing a phenomenon we didn't expect.
Shoes coming from all over the United States.
People shipping their shoes.
We live in California, but we have received or will soon receive shoes from: PA, OH, IN, AZ, TX, ID, UT, GA, OR, FL, MD, and MA.
We have or are receiving from Inland Empire, Orange County, San Diego County, Los Angeles County, Kern County, if not more.
Driving home from San Diego to pick up the second load from Cardiff, my husband started talking about this crazy shoe drive.
We have seen miracles.
We know God's hand is in this.
We know that Sofi will come home in large part because of this.
And to see SO many people work SO hard (some people we don't even know) to help bring home our Sofi,
We KNOW He is here and He is in charge.
When we think we don't know how we will do it,
He provides a way.
And you all have heard Him.
This story is about love.
Love for a little girl.
A little girl that was born into nothing.
Born into emptiness.
She already has more love than she knows.
As she waits for everything to be completed,
We pray that she can feel the love that we have felt.
That it can sustain her during this wait.
She will be alone only temporarily.
Her story is your story.
It's your story because you shared your heart with us.
There are no words that we can say to express how grateful we are to each pair of shoes that was lovingly given to bring home our girl.
One pair or twenty; it's all the same.
You loved Sofi.
And for that, we can only say thank you.
We love you too.
