Oh, to belong!

Ann peered into the first crib at the orphanage in Mozambique, Africa.  Why had everyone else passed it by when selecting a child to hold?  A pair of chocolatey-brown crossed eyes met her gaze.  As a nurse, Ann realized that problem could be easily fixed – but not here.  She picked up the smiling, abandoned, 13-month-old infant and cradled him in her arms.  He rested in a fetal position unable to hold up his head, sit, or crawl.  Ann felt the strongest urge to adopt him.  Left in Africa, at age 5 he would be sent to the streets to beg for money.

Ann took a picture of Jaron – just a rag of a diaper hanging off little toothpicks of arms and legs – to send to her husband and 9 children at home.  Her husband texted back, “The kids say to bring him home.”   Finally, he belonged.

Note: Jaron is one of only a handful of children that have been adopted outside of Africa because it is against their culture and philosophy which states "Children of the land who are born here need to stay here."

Jaron was emaciated at the orphanage. He could hear, but his eyes were crossed. He had cerebral palsy.  He couldn't talk, hold up his head, crawl, or walk.  They didn't even have a birthdate for him.  Yet through it all, he had the biggest smile.  He was just looking to be loved. 

Jaron is now one of 11 children, attending a functional skills high school in Arizona.  He communicates by pushing pictures on an IPad.  His eyes were corrected with several surgeries and he walks.  He was given the same birthdate as his brother Jaedon. But one thing hasn't changed: his huge smile.

 We all want to belong and need to feel loved. Jaron is a reminder that miracles happen.  God is watching out for each of His children in all corners of the world.