"Our journey to adoption began very early in our marriage when we lived in Germany. Seeing so many orphaned children due to war in Eastern Europe broke us. When you see their faces all over the news - faces of desperation… those of hopelessness…it changes something deep inside you. For us, we lived with those faces in our hearts and minds for years raising up our two biological children. Surely - we thought - those ideas of adoption were not for us, because we never thought we could afford to do so. BUT GOD…that’s become our motto.
He began to remind us of those seeds and whispers from years back. He would not let us forget and we began to pray earnestly. Surely he wasn’t calling us to adopt now. After we’ve almost raised our two children…to start over? Yes! That’s exactly what our Father was calling us to do. And...we did!
In 2010, we brought home our first daughter from China. That trip to China wrecked us and our two older children, Kailey and Brady. We knew we would be going back. As David Platt says, “We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.” We all four still echo those words today. And go back, we did.
With each adoption, the Lord stretched us until we finally told our social worker “this journey is from the Lord, we are open to any and all special needs.” One of those needs being Down syndrome. Before, Down syndrome was always a “no.” We just couldn’t take on “that" special need. BUT GOD…
He turned our world upside down when Greg and I were across the world from each other. Greg was in Kuwait with work and I was at home. We both saw a page of waiting children. Literally, at least fifty children were on that page, and one little face tugged on both of our hearts. Only God can do that. That little face was a precious little girl who just happened to have Down syndrome. Was God calling us to adopt a child with Down syndrome? We prayed through and knew for certain she was our daughter, and the Lord was absolutely calling us to her! Havah is the most incredible little girl, and became such a bright light in our family. She has changed us in ways we never thought possible. I had heard so many families who have children with Down syndrome speak of being “the lucky few” and now I get it. We were one of those “lucky few” for sure.
Two years after bringing Havah home, the Lord put a precious little boy in our lives who also just happened to have Down syndrome. He came to us through respite, but we now call him our son. God literally put another Down syndrome treasure right in our laps! The Lord took our “no” and turned it upside down into a resounding “yes!” Adding Havah and Simon to our lives has been the greatest blessing. They are gems fearfully and wonderfully made by their Creator. To think we could have missed this puts me on my face daily. We could never have imagined that 29 years ago we would now be 50 and 53 raising younger children with Down syndrome. BUT GOD…
He gives the best gifts. His plans for us far exceed anything we could plan for ourselves, as Proverbs 16:9 reminds us: “The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” Praise Him for directing our steps and turning our no into yes for six children. We are asked often if we are done adopting, and our answer is always: “This is God’s call on our lives, and we are open and willing if He has more.” Let us live the rest of our days saying yes. Who knows what gifts He has ready to give if we just listen and allow Him to lead. Living for eternity is far greater than what this tiny space in history holds. And we choose to live in light of eternity."
- Kim Hensley Franks
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