Oct. 25 Levi's 2nd Birthday

Monday, Levi turned 2-years-old. Birthdays can be bittersweet for adoptees. It's a celebration of their birth of course, but can also be a reminder of their losses. As with China, most children are abandoned on or near the date of their birth, for various reasons, but usually due to special needs or the one-child policy. Most police reports detail the finding spot of the child, the date, and the name of the person who found them, but most adoptees never know this person, let alone ever have a way to contact them to fill in the gap of the day they were found.

I received an email the day before Levi's birthday, from the couple that visits his orphanage annually to do mission work. They said that they had an interesting story to share. They have a recently adopted granddaughter from Levi's orphanage who is a teenager. Two of her teen friends from that orphanage have also been recently adopted by American families. One of her teen friends, Lucy, saw Levi's picture on our blog. She said to her adoptive mother in broken English, "I founded him." Her mother replied, "You mean you are fond of him?" She said, "No, I found him...in the grass." According to Lucy, she took Levi back to the SWI because she was happy to miss English class, which was her first subject and not her favorite.

The police report says that Levi was found by a school child near the gate of the orphanage. That school child was apparently Lucy, who is now living one state away. She remembered finding him! Remarkable, to say the least.

I really can't express how miraculous this is for my son, to have a link to that fated day that changed his life forever. It is amazing to me that God has brought these people into our lives who have a connection to our son's orphanage and to his past. I hope that for each birthday that he celebrates, his losses will be overshadowed by the incredible, fateful day that he was "founded".