Breaking Hearts

A post from Rush:

On July 22, 2010 in the city of Zhongshan a woman did the unthinkable. She wrapped up her child, traveled to the Yuelainan Medical Hospital, dropped her one month old infant off and walked away. And with each step her heart surely broke a little more. Social, economic, political and familial pressures that no American can truly understand backed her into a corner that she could not escape. A son was supposed to be a treasured possession, a child to carry on the family name. A blessing that would care and provide for his parents as they aged. Hearts broke when she delivered this child because he was different. He was a child with special needs, and special needs that could not be hidden. They were written right there on his lip and palate for the whole world to see.

And on this day in July her baby's heart, only a few weeks old, was also breaking. The woman who had carried him for 9 months and held him from his first breath was not there to console him any longer. His mom was gone and she wasn't coming back. He wasn't going home.

And so began the next phase of his life in an orphanage, where he would spend the next fourteen months - adjusting to life in a social welfare institute, undergoing surgery, vying for attention. A year old and weighing only thirteen pounds, his heart still not mended.

Then by the grace of our God, a foster family opened the doors of their home to this tiny little boy. A place where he could be loved, held and fed. But this family knew the risk they were taking by welcoming him. One day this child they loved would be removed from their home and sent back to the orphanage or adopted by another family, and their hearts would break.

12,000 miles away another family's hearts were breaking. Longing for their son to be home. Trudging through paperwork, processes, validations and approvals. Clinging to a couple of photos of their boy and the prayers of friends and family.

This is the story of my son, Judah.

In the next few weeks Judah will be removed from his foster family and sent back to the orphanage to "prepare" for his adoption into our family. It's not by our choice, but it is part of the process of Chinese adoption. Oh how my heart breaks just thinking about how much his will also be broken as he is once again torn away from a family. I grieve for the breaking hearts of this foster family who by now know that an American couple is coming and "FuFu" (their nickname for him) will no longer be smiling and crawling around their home.

This is a story of broken hearts. But it’s also a story of hope. In just a few short weeks we will be boarding a plane bound for our son. We know from past experience that the real journey will begin when he is handed to us and his heart breaks again, being torn from the orphanage and placed into what at that moment are stranger's arms. But we are his mom and dad. He has a home. And through the miracle of adoption, through family and through the unending love of Christ, his heart will heal.

My prayer is that God will keep breaking our hearts. Breaking it for what breaks His. Breaking for the broken hearts of the 146 million orphans across this globe. Breaking for all those who still need to hear His story.

As for FuFu, mom and dad are coming. For you and for your heart.