SURPRISE!!!
The Prendergast Family is preparing for growth as we have made the decision to adopt again from China!!
So, I began looking up different adoption agencies, not
automatically assuming that we would use the same agency as we had previously
gone with. I also asked a group of
adoptive families we know from our adoption experience(s) for recommendations
of agencies they have utilized. One night in February, as I lay
in bed with my trusty tablet, the rest in the house fast asleep, I decided to
look up an agency to learn what I could about them, like many other agencies, this one had a
waiting child list and after following the appropriate steps to get a username
and password, I began scanning the listing of children waiting to be
adopted. There are SO MANY children
waiting for a family, so many who are in need of medical care, security and
love. It’s often difficult to see the photos of all
these children but I just hope for one to tug at my heart, to cause me to look
a little further. That’s what happened when I saw the photo of Billy.
I was so taken aback by his photo as I had
never seen any child or person with a similar appearance. Clearly, Billy has some sort of facial
anomaly. The details listed with his
photo read “Billy is a sweet little boy
who gets along well with other children.
His best friend is “Alan” on WACAP’s list! This kind hearted little boy will help out
the nannies, and when he sees younger children crying he’ll pat their shoulders
and wipe their tears; he’s very gentle and is good at comforting them.” Hmm”, … I thought. It was late; I was getting tired but I would
definitely be thinking about this boy.
As I was about to close out of the list, I merely scrolled down just a
bit more
and then I saw Alan and I was taken aback, yet again … and then it
clicked! This boy is the boy that was
stated as being the best friend of Billy.
Oh MY! Well, it was not our intention to seek the
adoption of two boys but after sharing the information with Brian the next day,
he said, “OK! Then we should try to adopt them both!” My mouth just dropped WIDE OPEN! But, truly, we did not know how we would be
able to choose between them and we also felt that if they were really best
friends, then they should be together. At the ages of 5 and 6, they are fully aware that they look
different and they are bonded to each other because of those differences. We learned this after obtaining the files on
the two of them.
I was so taken aback by his photo as I had
never seen any child or person with a similar appearance. Clearly, Billy has some sort of facial
anomaly. The details listed with his
photo read “Billy is a sweet little boy
who gets along well with other children.
His best friend is “Alan” on WACAP’s list! This kind hearted little boy will help out
the nannies, and when he sees younger children crying he’ll pat their shoulders
and wipe their tears; he’s very gentle and is good at comforting them.” Hmm”, … I thought. It was late; I was getting tired but I would
definitely be thinking about this boy.
You might wonder why we would be so drawn to children with such extreme facial differences. Well, when we pursued adoption for the very first time, back in early 2006, at first glance, we would not have chosen her.
In fact, when shown the three separate documents showing photos of little girls on a waiting child list, we immediately pushed the information sheet with her photo aside because the medical condition listed was very "foreign" to us and the black and white photo showed a child whose eyes were further apart than normal and there was "something" in between them that was undecipherable. We had made up our minds right away that we would choose between the other two girls, however, just after that, we were notified that the other two girls were already on hold with other families and that the little girl (whose sheet we quickly moved aside was the only girl left on the list at that time. We were assured that another list would come again soon but that just in case they would email us the file of that little girl whom we did not want to consider.
And when we looked again this little child came to life, and although we had no idea at that moment what her medical condition would mean, we knew that God had chosen her to be our daughter. If we hadn’t followed the tug on our hearts and stepped into the great unknown, Molly Frances would not be our daughter … and that thought is unbearable and unimaginable. She is an absolute ray of sunshine and we are so blessed that she is in our family!
Because of her, we also adopted Brynn, born with a similar facial anomaly. 
These two boys belong in our family too and we are eager to love them just the way that they are but to also be able to provide for them the opportunity to correct the medical conditions they have and to live a more normal life than they would ever have if left where they are currently. We are very humbled as we make ourselves vulnerable to the thoughts, feelings and words that may be evoked as we open ourselves up WIDE in sharing this information … it’s a scary thing … but we realize that we’re going to need some help along this path that we are taking. The fees associated with adopting one child are a bit overwhelming but for two will be nearly doubled at an estimated $45,000 and based on our experiences with our daughters we are aware that the medical issues will also certainly pull from our finances as well, even with our current medical coverage. It is not our intention to have other people fund this adoption, but our goal is to not acquire a huge financial debt that will create a difficult burden on us once we arrive home with two more children who have special medical circumstances. Both boys will require craniofacial surgeries, dental procedures and, likely, speech therapy. We also are going to have to go back to driving a vehicle with more seats! Our daughters will have to go back to sharing a bedroom; we will have more family members and less space … … … Some might say, “that’s easy, then just don’t do it!”
We’ve made a choice not to choose “easy”, and on the days when we’re feeling discouraged or full of doubt, we will mimic these words: “Lord, … when helping just one more person seems like too much, help me to choose you. On the days when Satan whispers 'You can't save everyone, why are you trying?' … let me choose you.” ― Katie J. Davis, Kisses from Katie God has placed within us our heart for the orphans. God has given us the motivation to expand our boundaries. And God will give us courage … not to save them all … but for right now, to make a difference for just two more. We are choosing to trust in God.
“…tomorrow,” he said, “the Lord will do a great
miracle … when the priests who are carrying the Ark touch
the water with their feet, the river will stop flowing as though held back by a
dam, and will pile up as though against an invisible wall!” Now it was the
harvest season and the Jordan was overflowing all its banks; but as the people
set out to cross the river and as the feet of the priests who were carrying the
Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, suddenly,
far up the river … the water began piling up as though against a dam! And the
water below that point flowed on … until the riverbed was empty. Then all the
people crossed at a spot where the river was close to the city of Jericho, and
the priests who were carrying the Ark stood on dry ground in the middle of the
Jordan and waited as all the people passed by. (Joshua 3)
Although we
will utilize money that we have saved, continue to save while living a bit more
frugally, apply for grants and also hold fundraisers, … more money than we have,
or project we will have, will be needed to make this happen. What we are about to do is an enormous step
of faith and we are trusting God completely for His provision. This is our first step of faith into the
waters of the Jordan River, sharing with you what God has placed on our hearts.
It’s up to God to provide the miracle. And
some of you will be a part of that miracle.
Would you consider helping to change a child’s future? There are a variety of ways you can help us:
Would you consider helping to change a child’s future? There are a variety of ways you can help us:
- We are asking for prayer to cover our family, these two boys, the paperwork and the process.
- We will likely do some fundraisers and would be grateful for your participation. At this point, we would welcome any and all fundraising suggestions or ideas.
- You can share our story with others who you feel might be interested and able to offer support. We will be documenting our “journey” via this blog.
- You can support our adoption financially in a variety of ways:
Please feel free to contact us at prenderbergs@gmail.com if you would like to support us in one of these ways.
We are greatly blessed by the encouragement and support of
those around us and we pray that God reciprocates and multiplies your blessing
back to you!!
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