Introducing the Newest Walker-Another Leap In The Journey Of Life

Not so long ago in a very distant place a baby was born. A sweet little boy that looked perfect. His mother and father were so happy for this precious child. As they cuddled him in their arms and talked about their joy and his future they noticed that his little puckered lips began to turn a blue. This worried them but after a while the color came back and they didn't think much of it. Over the next couple of weeks they learned to feed, bath and love their little boy. They fell more and more in love with him every passing day. This mother and father would notice though, that their sons lips turned blue more and more often and they began to get very concerned. With fear they took him to see the doctor. After a few tests it was determined that this perfect child had a sever heart problem.

With very heavy hearts this mother and father took their little baby home. What were they to do? They had no money to get the help that he would need. It was far too costly and they lived on a meager income as it was. How were they to hide this from their friends, neighbors and more importantly family. If anyone found out they would shun them and ostersize their child for being bad luck. You see, where they lived, if a couple had a child that was not perfect it meant they had done something terribly wrong. No one would accept them anymore. Their mother would pressure them to abandon their new born son so the family could save face. 

The child's difficulties became more and more noticeable. People started to ask questions and the mother and father could do nothing to help their son. They knew the only option they had and could hardly face it. Their son needed medical help that they could not afford and the only way this baby may get it was to turn him over to an orphanage. If anyone were to find out who they were and what they had done they could go to prison for abandoning their son. They had to be very careful.

One dark night the couple took their two month old son on a train. Wrapped in a blanket he slept soundly in his mothers arms. The train ride came to an end and the trio got off. The mother and father walked around the city for a time until they found a spot where they were sure he would be found. The mother kissed his tiny forehead and with tears in her eyes laid the baby down on the sidewalk. They walked away and tried to blend in with the morning crowd. The mother and father watched for a short time until someone picked up their baby and started walking. The mother and father had to turn away as their hearts broke into a million pieces. 

This sweet little boy quickly became a favorite at the orphanage. Though it was a very poor orphanage that had little food and not much heat in the cold winter, he managed to continue to survive. The orphanage had no way to get the medical care this child needed. There was not enough money to feed the children let alone pay for a doctor and hospital. However, this child was not doing well. He didn't grow, wouldn't eat, was lethargic, and turned blue very often. The whole staff was worried about him. Finally, one day the orphanage director called a group that helped children like this and asked if there was anything they could do. The kind people said they would take this baby and care for him and try to get the medical attention he needed. No one knew how severe the situation was with his heart but after one test it was apparent that this baby was lucky to be alive.

Doctors all over the world were contacted. Pediatric Cardiologists gave their advice, which was not comforting to anyone. The group supporting this baby put out a call to anyone that could help find a  hospital in the US that would sponsor this child so he could get a Medical Visa and get the help that he needed.

This is where our story begins......

The call from the group Love Without Boundaries was made in the Spring of 2012. I saw the plea and decided that I could call our local Children's Hospital to see what they could do. They are known for the service they preform. So much so that I found they have a whole department to field all the requests. Through the discussions with them I got a list of info they would need to evaluate the case. I requested the info and waited. A few days came and went and I was informed that this little boy was determined by 5 other doctors to be either inoperable or too risky to operate on. He was not doing well and something needed to be done immediately. I didn't know at the time but the orphanage began the process to have his paperwork done to make him available for adoption. 

At one point I asked a friend what was going on with this child. I hoped that somehow they were able to find  help for him. She is part of the organization of LWB but she didn't know what had happened. A few months later I got an email from my friend asking if I was interested in this boy. I emailed back "Most definitely.  What's going on with him?" I assumed that they had decided to pursue the Medical Visa once again. I called my friend and she let me know that his file was ready for adoption and no one had really looked at it in two months. He needed a family NOW.

From that moment on I was a blubbering mess. I cried or was on the verge of tears at all moments. Doug came home from work for lunch, which is not common. I followed him around and talked about work for a short time. I knew I had to get the guts up to tell him about the phone call I had that morning. I didn't know if this boy was to come to our family nor did I really want to think that. I had made a promise never to ask if we could adopt again and I was not going to break my promise. Doug and I discussed the situation and I expected that would be the end of it. I had made a comment that it would be crazy for someone to pay all that money to go get a child that was just going to die. Doug came out from our bedroom where he had gone for just a couple of minutes and said something like "You would have to know that the money was not yours but God's to adopt this child". That is when I knew this conversation was not just a passing thing. As we said goodbye, Doug hugged me and I couldn't hold on any longer. I sobbed in his arms. I didn't know why and still didn't want to figure it out, I made a promise.

For the rest of that day and through the next I could not get a hold of my emotions. Doug and I were fasting for other things that day and at one point Doug said "It looks like I have something else to fast about". I still didn't want to ask God nor my husband. If this was to be our son Doug had to know first not me. The next day was more of the same. We went to our temple that evening for a previously scheduled visit. I felt it was a good time for me to focus on asking for strength and to clear my head. I was not going to think about this little boy!  Funny, I really didn't until the Holy Ghost spoke to me about him several times. As Doug and I talked that night we both knew with our whole beings that this child was to come to our family. The emotions immediately settled down and I felt peace.

It has been 4 weeks now since that day. We debated on when to tell people and WHAT to tell people. We chose to wait until we had the preliminary approval from China to adopt this boy. We have seen miracles time and time again and had great opposition. I will need to expound on those things in another post on another day. 

The newest Walker (after Jason) will turn 2 in February. The same day as Emma. You would think with as many children as we have we could spread the birthdays out a little better. I guess in the end it will be easier to have a concentration of birthdays and a couple weeks of a break. We don't have a name for him yet so he is referred to as the boy in China. :) Naming him is Doug's privileged this time, so we will wait. His heart is pretty bad. From the little information that we have it looks like he may have half a heart. We really won't know until he gets here and has a very thorough test done. We have a review from a doctor here in the US that sees severe heart cases in his clinic of teens and adults that have never had surgery and will never. They function with the heart the way it is and it could only make things worse if  they intervene in any way. The doctor calls this the perfect storm. Our hope is that  our son will be one of those children. From the pictures we have and the growth chart he is doing very well. He doesn't have consistent blue lips and is starting to walk. He is almost as big as Hyrum was at 4 when we brought him home. All those involved with this child feel strongly that his adoption needs to happen as soon as possible! There must be more than what the papers tell us. 

This is a journey of faith. We fight some fear, worry, sorrow and many other feelings. We may bring this child home to have him die. Or we may be in the hospital far more than we or the children would desire. How do we come up with the money on top of  Christmas and a wedding?  Will our other children be ready for us to leave for almost 2 weeks to go pick him up? I don't know how all this will come together so It all comes down to, we love the Lord and will do all that He asks of us. We know we can do all things with His help and have to exercise that faith daily. Jesus Christ gave his life for me. There is no way to repay Him but we can dedicate our lives to Him.

Part of this story was recreated from knowledge of some situations in his country but some facts are not known.