Wednesday's Waiting Child: Jasper

Those of you who might happen to run into my husband, ask him what happened early this morning when I got up to water my sad little garden.  Here's a hint: the story involves me, in my pajamas, on an extension ladder.  Not the highlight of my day.

If you've been reading my blog for quite a while, you know that I used to occasionally post about children waiting to be adopted on Wednesdays.  I have met so many precious waiting children on this journey, and it breaks my heart that we can't bring them all home.  I've shared a few of these sweet little ones in the hopes that their family - or someone who knows their family - might be introduced to them here.

I stopped my Wednesday's Waiting Child posts for several reasons.  The biggest one being that the country we were hoping to adopt from in Eastern Europe (also the country where most of the waiting children I was aware of lived) does not allow families to be matched with their child/ren before travel.   Also, this country was going through some drastic and unpredictable changes in their adoption process, and I saw many families "lose" the child or children they had hoped to adopt.  

I am not saying that these kiddos don't need advocates or adoptive parents; they absolutely do.  I would go back and finish our adoption process there in a second if a law change hadn't closed that door.  (In fact, I might possibly still be stalking occasionally checking this country's online adoption listings.)  I just felt uncomfortable encouraging families to fall in love with sweet little faces who were not truly available to be matched.  Let me make it clear that I am not uncomfortable encouraging families to adopt from EE or sharing the incredibly horrifying  situations that many orphans face there.

That being said, the process of being matched with a child in China is completely different.  There are many, many Chinese children (close to 2,000 at the moment) who are waiting for families.  China's adoption process allows these children to be officially matched with parents long before travel.  In fact, the majority of these children can be matched with parents who have not even started their adoption paperwork.  (Yes, that means many of you.)

So, now that I'm again meeting precious waiting children that I would love to bring home, I've decided to start my Wednesday's Waiting Child posts again.  The little boy I want to introduce to you today is an absolute doll, and I'm calling him Jasper (since I love that name and Jeremy will never, ever, in a thousand years let me name one of our kids that).

This little guy has had a rough year.  He was matched with an adoptive family last summer.  In March, they decided not to continue with their adoption.  (This decision was totally personal and had nothing to do with Jasper.)  Since then, Jasper has been waiting.  Waiting for another mama and papa who have room in their home and their hearts for one sweet boy.

Okay, I can't wait any longer to show you a picture of this  little man.

I know.  I want to squeeze him too.

Jasper is four years old.  His special need is repaired meningocele (meaning that he had surgery to fix a moderate form of spina bifida).  Obviously his spina bifida hasn't slowed him down.  His file says that he walks and runs "very well".  He can stand on one foot and walk up and down stairs.

Jasper seems to be receiving very good care.  He has lived with the same foster family since he was less than a month old.  (Amazing!)  He attends school, and his mental development is on track.  Jasper likes to play outside with his foster mother, and he will sometimes recite the songs he's learned at school to her.

The pictures of Jasper in the white sweater were taken in October 2011.  I have access to his file and can share more information with anyone who might be interested.  Just shoot me an email at whatitmeans2beheld@gmail.com.

Jasper is considered Special Focus, meaning that he can be matched with a family who has not yet started the adoption process.  Also, he is currently on an agency-specific list, but his agency has said that they will transfer his file due to the special circumstances with his first family.

Feel free to share this little guy's pictures and information as you feel led.  He's been through so. much. in four short years.  It's time he came home to his family.