ONE reason we are doing what we are doing

When I contacted Andrea about Josh she was not sure if he was transferred to an institution yet or not.  Josh was in the same baby house as Benjamin.  They may have been buddies.  Its hard for me to think of.

This is Benjamin. He is 7 years old. He has Down syndrome and was in an orphanage in Eastern Europe. He was in need of an adoptive family. He still has the need for an adoptive family, but no longer has the chance for one.

 You see, in many areas of Eastern Europe, kids with disabilities that age out of the baby house are transfered to mental institutions. Many of these institutions block adoptions, and a child has no way out. They are left to die, and many of them will meet that fate quickly. These institutions are not looking to save lives, but to be a holding place for those that are so forgotten that no one will ever know of their passing, let alone care!


Now, some may say "Life is so unfair, why would God let this happen to an innocent child?"... Be careful if you ask this question of God for He may very well say "Why did you?".

What prevented someone from coming for Benjamin? Time? Money? Room? His disability? The paperwork involved? The baring of ones life to social workers and various agencies? The risk of heartache? The risk of standing out, of being different? Do you really think these things are BIG problems for God?

This childs light has been dimmed, so much so that most, if not all of us will soon forget that he even existed. That is a true tragedy. A child, so precious, so dear to Jesus, so much a part of WHO God is... and we just let him linger and die alone! Like an animal that has become to prevalent, and whose numbers must be thinned, many view this little brown haired beauty as a worthless commodity that has no value. He is just a nuisance that stands in the way of something greater. The lottery of survival of the fittest in the world of an orphan is ugly, brutal, and an everyday reality. And little Benjamin lost the lottery... tough draw kid. :(

God is a specific God, and Benjamin was created with love, care, and intricate detail. HOW DARE THAT THE WORLD REJECT THIS PRECIOUS GIFT GOD SO FREELY BLESSED US WITH! HOW DARE WE!!!

Did he ever know his mamas loving embrace? Did he ever hear a lullaby as he drifted off to sleep? Was he ever held when he was scared or sick? Was there ever anyone who gave one little smile or felt one tiny sense of pleasure when he accomplished something for the first time? Was he ever held in the arms of one whose heart was singing praises of thankfulness to God for just being able to hold him close? The reality is most likely no to all of these questions.

NO! NO? How can a child be born and never know any of these things???? How can we care so little? HOW?

Did you know that despite being full of children a number of orphanages are eerily silent? How long does it take for the heart of an innocent child to finally realize that know one cares so they stop crying? stop playing? stop laughing?

My heart is sad. Is it wrong to hope he dies quickly and painlessly so that he will know these things wonderful and loving things in heaven? That he will be perfect? That he will never know loneliness or fear or suffering again? I think it is wrong, it shows a lack of faith and trust in God. Or maybe... in some circumstances and just for a while, it is okay....

I will be praying for you little Benjamin. Praying that your Saviors arms rock you to sleep tonight. That he is in your dreams, showing you his love. And that human arms are sent your way and are able to hold you close praising God for your life!

This was written by another family adopting two little ones from Eastern Europe.  You should really check out their blog!   http://trustedwithmuch.blogspot.com/

Thank you Kelly, for writing this so PERFECT!!!!

3 weeks since last post!!!!

I know, I know! I'm not very good at keeping up with my poor blog!! I'm just so busy working 2 jobs, keeping up with 6 kids and we have been busy sewing up a storm to sell things at craft sales to help raise money for this adoption. Its big craft sale show time here in Minnesota and we are trying to hit as many as we can! A lot has been happening in the Fritz family but nothing more exciting as deciding to bring Josh home with us as well as Dania!!! Everything just seemed to fall into place about this little boy! When we first found Reece’s Rainbow, which I hope everyone reading this checks out!!!! www.reecesrainbow.com, there were five little ones that totally touched my heart. Dania of course, Dennis, Dolly, a little girl from Bulgaria who is no longer listed, and Josh. I couldn’t pick just one because in my mind if I picked one I would be leaving the others behind. But with lots of prayer and conversations with the family, we decided on Dania. She just seemed to be the one that was already part of our family. The problem, I could not get the other four out of my thoughts!!!! Then I saw that the little girl from Bulgaria was gone, not listed any longer. Then Dolly, from a different country than Dania found her forever family, and then sweet, precious Dennis from a region far from Dania found his family. That left my Josh, with the sweetest face in the world! So after talking with Ken and telling him only Josh is left he assured me that Josh would find his family too! A few weeks past and Josh still didn’t find his family and he was turning 6 in a couple of weeks and I knew his days were numbered! We knew we couldn’t afford to bring another one home with not only the cost but also the travel from one part of Dania’s region to Joshes region if they were even in the same country!!! We knew it would cost us thousands of dollars more to adopt a second child. And then there was the fact that Josh has Down Syndrome. I know nothing about DS and I am embarrassed to say I was scared! Ken was even more scared. For some reason Thursday morning I asked Andrea where Josh was. That’s all, just a simple question. Well come to find out that he was in the same country as Dania and surprisingly, unbelievably, he was in the same orphanage!!!! And he had some grant money! But Andrea did not know if he had been transferred to an institution yet or not so she would have to check. Late Thursday she got back to me that Josh WAS still in the baby house! Coincidence......maybe? Gods hand in all this.....I think so! Now all I had to do was convince Ken! No small feat! He knew nothing, absolutely nothing about DS and told me that he would have to read and search as much as could before making this big of a decision. And that he has to have the best interest in the kids that we have and what is best for them. That he didn’t want to "burden" them with taking care of Josh when we all got older! All these were real concerns for him but he was not telling me the truth!!! Friday morning he had talked with Andrea to tell her to move him to the committed family section under Fritz Family! All day I kept emailing and calling Ken to try to convince him why all along he had already committed to Josh! When I got home from work I kept looking at his picture and showing Ken at just how down right adorable he was! He kept saying he wasn’t sure and that something about his eyes that he was worried about. Just a way for me to go back into the RR website to look at Josh again! When Ken talked with Andrea on Friday morning he had asked her to wait until I got home to actually move Joshes picture over to our committed family section. Once I got home he had emailed Andrea to say move it now she is going on the RR site to look at Josh. I went into RR because Ken was so concerned about something with Joshes eyes! I went in, and there he was. My sweet Josh right next to our sweet Dania! What a guy! A very sweet thing to do. Love you Ken!!! I think Josh will teach us all something about life! Not that all of our kids haven’t taught us things but Josh, well Josh will teach us things that I don’t think we even know we have to be taught!!! The kids are beyond happy! For myself and Ken......Scared, a little! Excited, yes! Blessed, VERY!!!!

Kaylee part 2

Since Kaylee has only been here less than a year it obviously wont be as long as Licas or Rocs.  But I do have more to tell you about Kaylee!  She is a very artistic girl.  She draws like you would not believe.  She makes little things out of paper......she can make anything out of paper.  She makes things out of beads, yarn, and rope.  And she is just now learning how to sew with a sewing machine.  She designs a outfit she likes on paper and then takes bits of fabric and sews them by hand for Jerlins barbie dolls!  Cool!  Because she was older when she came home we thought her language transition would be the most difficult.  Not so, she wanted to learn English so bad she was speaking and writing within the first two months.  She doesn't understand and always asks me why I am so emotional.  I see a sad movie, I cry.  I see all the orphans, I cry.  She tells me her story when she was younger, I cry.  I see a dead dog on the side of the road, I cry.  And its not just sad stuff......I see a movie with a great ending, I cry.  I see my kids do something sweet, I cry.  A woman at our garage sale gave us a 10 dollar donation, I cried!  She just doesn't get me.  But then again most people don't.  I think the thing I LOVE about her most is her sick sense humor, like mine.  Grandpa tells her the joke about the guy going to the doctor and says doctor, doctor it hurts my arm when I do this.......doctor says, don't do that.  Guy says, I want a second opinion.........Okay the doctor says, your ugly too!  She cant get enough of that stupid joke.  She tells everybody and laughs like it was the first time she heard it.  She asks me "mom, don't you think that is funny"?  I tell her Maybe the first time I hear (not so much) but defiantly not the 100th time I hear it!!!  Grandpa is in heaven cuz he finally has someone to laugh at all his silly jokes!  When we switched her to private school she learned that she has TONS of homework every night.  Unfortunately I need to help her, every night.  So when she walks in the house I look at her and say, do we have homework again tonight????  She answers, well you sent me to that school!!!  To Funny!

Kaylee is very sweet and caring and is sooooooooo happy to be in a family and have a real mom.  One that is really there for her.  She loves to hear about mine and Kens past on how we met, why we dated, why we married.  She even made me get my wedding dress out so she could try it on.  Once she saw it she asked how I ever fit into it......told ya she was FUNNY!

Then she made had Lica try it on.........

The she really had to scream beg for Roc to try it on.......

It was to much fun!!!  The sweetest thing she ever asked me was "Mom, why do I love you so much"?  Because I love you more Kaylee, I love you more!"