Dear Santa...

All I want for Christmas is a family.....


At Christmas time my heart always turns to Mia and my emotions are so raw as I think of the Christmas season 3 years ago when my heart strings were being pulled towards something unknown.

It was at this time of year that I was soul searching and praying for answers to where our road was supposed to lead.

At the same time, there was a little girl sitting alone in an orphanage in Ukraine.

She had never met Santa.

She had never experienced the joy of his magic

She didnt know that this season of Christmas was about the love of a family.

but she did know that if she had a Christmas wish it would be to have a family to call her own.

At the same time, there were strangers rallying around this little girl, raising money for her and spreading the word that she needed a family, and she needed them soon.

Right before Christmas 3 years ago, I found these blog posts...

reading them again, and seeing the picture that changed our lives, gives me chills.

(taken from Patti's blog Dec. 2010)

"updated to add- Olga's fund has grown so large, that we are sure she is about to find her forever family. Several families have made serious inquires about her- and although nobody has committed to her yet, I feel confident that Olga will be rescued. And I promise to update you as soon as I can:)

In light of this overwhelming success for Olga, we asked Andrea Roberts to allocate all donations coming in after 12/17 to this little sweetie...

KareenBorn January 15, 2007

This pretty muffin is waiting for her family! She is healthy, with no heart condition noted in her records. She has brown hair and hazel eyes, and is already up and learning to walk! Her records indicate “meiotic nondisjunction”, but this is just a fancy word for what happens to create “Down syndrome” genetically. She is considered higher functioning and is really doing well. She is an orphanage favorite, and the director has asked for a family to save her from the institution.

I asked Andrea to give me the name of a child facing the institution...and she gave me the name of Kareen. My heart just melted when I saw her."

This Home for christmas giveaway changed Mia's life and ours. The questions Patti was wondering at the time "And what will that new day bring?A home? Safety? Peace? A loving family to protect her and love her and cherish her, and show her the value that her little life truly is? A mama to kiss her and hold her and teach her all the little things a little girl should know...most of all love? A daddy to watch over her and care for her? Parents to hold her when she's hurting and pray for her and show her tenderness and give her everything a little girl deserves?" 

Mia now has all those things and reflecting on that christmas season 3 years ago when she did not, and we were being pulled to her just makes me so thankful for the many miracles that fell into place in order for her to come home. I remember that Christmas, before we actually committed to Mia, I sat watching my other 3 girls open their christmas gifts and dance on their new dance floor and all I could think about was that Mia (Kareen) was supposed to be there too. 

Since being home with Mia our lives have gone into overdrive with the miracle of the twins and adjusting to the dynamics of our family and I often think about all the other children like Mia who are still waiting for their Christmas wish to come true, to have a family of their own, and my heart gets heavy because I wish I could do more.

I wish I could be the family that each of these precious children are waiting for ... but I can't.

So what can I do?

I can pray for them.

I can continue to share our story in hopes that others will be lead to find their child.

Sometimes I think everyone knows Mia's story and are tired of hearing about it, but then I realize that often times it is for me. when days are hard and we have our struggles, it always puts it into perspective to remember what she started life with and how far she has come.

And I can act on the promptings I have been having lately that I need to let Mia's story and her light continue to spread through this blog. For whatever reason, I have really felt strongly lately that maybe there is someone who needs to hear Mia's story again, or for the first time, or someone who needs to learn about the children who are forgotten, or someone who needs to know that sometimes the answers we think we are looking for are not at all the ones we thought we wanted.

When I found Mia she was not the answer I thought I was going to find.

I had never thought of adoption! I had 3 children biologically, so why would I need to adopt?

Once my heart realized maybe adoption was my answer, I said to myself "ok then, if thats the case, then I will find a new baby." Because after all, I had recently lost a baby through a difficult misscarriage and I needed a baby.

But that was not what I needed at all...

I needed this little girl

and she needed me 

 

A few weeks ago, Kris and I were talking about Mia and about adoption and we said,
"of course we love that we can give Mia these material things like new dolls, and dress ups, and toys, because every child deserves that and she never had that has a toddler or an infant, so its even more fun to spoil her with it now, but you know what? Mia doesn't care what she wears or what she plays with, she just cares that she is loved.

She cares that she now has a sister in the bed next to hers that she can climb in with when she is scared.

She cares that she has a place to call home

and a family to call her own.

There are so many children just waiting for their mom and their dad to find them and to have the faith to follow their heart and bring them home.

These children don't need an abundance of riches...they just need love,

and a chance to shine.

The changes in Mia since she has come home have nothing to do with us being in the least bit special, because I assure you we are not. Its as simple as having a family that loves you and a place to call home. We never thought we could handle even one child with special needs and yet now we have two.


There are SO many children just like Mia who are longing to know what love is at this Christmas time.

I am usually not very bold but I remember when we were stewing over the idea of if we could really say yes, and commit to bringing Mia into our family, and I remember my friend Lisa's blog post that day (who at the time had no idea I was about to commit to Mia) read "Just say yes!" and Mia's sweet picture was under that heading. So I will say, if you are considering or have ever had these feelings, please think about saying yes. It will stretch your heart and change your life in ways you never thought possible! Is it always easy? heavens no, but it is worth it.

Her life is worth it.

As a dear friend said "If you've ever thought about adoption don't wait because you feel like everything has to be perfect because these kids don't need perfect, they need a family and they need love. "

Every single time I hear this song tears flow as I think of Mia wishing for these things once upon a time, and as I think of all the children still waiting now.

Although this video was made 2 years ago, it is worth sharing again.




In church we were talking about what makes the christmas season special? what is the "feeling of christmas?"

 the answer is "peace" . The peace that we feel from our Savior is the feeling of Christmas . At this Christmas time, I am grateful that Mia now feels that peace in her life,

and that we feel peace knowing that we traveled the road we were supposed to that lead us to her.


May we all help one another feel the peace that this Christmas season brings.

Merry Christmas from the Cox family.



If you are not familiar with Mia's journey home you can find it at our adoption blog www.kareensjourneyhome.blogspot.com