When someone says adoption many times the first thing that we think of is new adoptive parents and their cute little person. But what if that little person is taller than you?
Meet Angie and Tom.
They have three gorgeous boys (one bio and two adoptive), and I assumed that the boys where adopted at a young age.
I was so wrong. Their adoption story started last spring when suddenly they were bombarded by adoption, it was like everything around them spoke adoption, even to the point that one night watching tv, the plot of the episode was adoption.
To which Tom commented "really?".
After a week of being bombarded they deiced to look more into this, that something was defiantly going on. That Good Friday, Angie was invited to a yahoo group from there she found a file labeled: Aging Out Children. Opening this folder she found picture after to picture of these older children waiting for a family. Click through she passed a face, click forward a few pictures, then clicked back to that one face.
She did that three times.
As she puts it, she was captivated by that little face, that his eyes just jumped out at her. After seeing that sweet boy, she read more about what aging out means for children in that country. The sentence of poverty that creates for these children.
She was crushed.
Printing out his file, she handed it to her husband which he responded "a teenager?".
"Yes, that is our son."
Four months. That was when Colin was set to age out of the system. After being told they wouldn't have enough time to adopt Colin. They fought for him anyways.
Four months later Colin came home, seven days before he was to age out of the system.
But they weren't done.
Halfway through adopting Colin, Angie saw another little boy who she couldn't shake. Another son for them. When they tried to pursue adopting Cameron, they were told if they did it would jeopardize their adoption of Colin.
Thinking it was a closed door, they started advocating for him. They kept looking for a family to adopt him, family after family were denied. Time was running out so Angie called again, and said this child is not aging out because he's coming home to them.
This was not the way things are done. They had Colin home for only a few months, and was not consider "ready" to adopt again, but she fought. A call was placed to the agencies board and they settled in to wait. What they though would take a week to hear back, took 20 minutes. 20 minutes to hear the words "if your social worker says yes, then its a yes". With no savings, no time to fund-raise they submitted their Letter of Intent, 8 weeks later Cameron came home.
Yes in four months they went from a family of three to a family of five.
Their family is amazing. Their is so much love in their home, and so much passion for adoption, children, and being a voice for the fatherless.
That's why they are doing it again. Angie and Tom are adopting again.
And once again, not one.. But two.
Its so amazing to see history repeating its self.
What started as a cute kid that they kept talking about. The sweet boy that Tom wanted to show his daughter as a child for her to adopt. After Tom asked Angie to send the photo over to his daughter, she stopped, Angie couldn't do it, she knew that was her son.
Adopting their fourth son, turned into two, 6 weeks ago. When Colin said "yeah mom if we brought home another boy, we would have to give a little. But he would get a lot."
Now they are rapping.
This family has so much heart. So much. They are fighters.
Not just for their own children but for this community of orphan care. Even with working on bringing their two sons home they are supporting others in this community. Mentoring families walking through their own adoptions and fostering.
Looking back on it all Angie and Tom never had plans to adopt. But now, knowing that a little guy can say "good night mom" to her. A little guy that never had the chance to say "good night" to a mom before, makes it all worth it.
The diversity of JTM (Journey Together) is amazing.
There are people who can't sleep at night over orphan care.
Families that are passionate about fostering, families who are walking through adoption,
families (like mine) who just want to support in anyway we can.
These community is amazing and changing the face of what adoption looks in our society. Not everyone is called to adopt, but we can all do something. What ever that looks like for you, do it.
If you want to help support Angie and Tom, they have some amazing fundraising opportunities. Everything from soap to jewelry.
