Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "I made a difference to that one!"

adapted from The Star Thrower
by Loren Eiseley
1907 - 1977

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It is now my turn to post an update (this is Xavier). We have been charging full speed ahead since this all started and I simply have not had time to sit down and write out any of my own thoughts. As I am writing this now, Anne is writing out thank you notes. We’ve been thinking about how we are going to rearrange the house and particularly the kid’s bedrooms. Things to do: get rid of stuff (toys and clutter), find used bunk-beds, plan for multiple vaccinations, develop the perfect Ethiopian adoption packing list, and more. I don’t even want to think about the car situation.

This weekend we attended another five hours of training in Denver. We now have 14 of the 24 required hours of this training completed. We are so thankful for Amanda’s help in watching Zack and Jessie while Anne and I attended the training. They really enjoyed spending time with their big sister and her help was invaluable to us.

We cannot say enough about how much the support, encouragement and outpouring of love from friends and family has overwhelmed us. It has simply been awesome watching this happen and it truly humbles us. We are excited to say that we have close to two thirds of the total need for this adoption. We remain faithful that God will see this through.

Last week we received a wonderful surprise! When other parents travel to Ethiopia to bring home their children, they try to take pictures of waiting children to bring back with them. We were fortunate to receive some absolutely adorable pictures of our children. I want to share with you some of the comments from the kind woman who took these pictures for us, “…we first met and loved your children…She is so cute!! She is a very happy young lady…He smiled very easily and is such a little sweet heart. I cannot wait for you to bring these two wonderful kids home! They were excited to give and receive hugs and enjoyed the new toys we gave them. Here are a few pictures to make your day!” And did it ever make our day! Many tears were shed. It amazes me that even though we have not met these children, they are already in our hearts as though we have always known them.

Many people have praised what we are doing with this adoption; it is as though we are doing a great charitable deed by changing the circumstances for these children. We  appreciate everyone’s kind words and I certainly do not mean to minimize anyone’s sincerity. Yet, as we have traveled this path it has become clearer that we are the ones who are receiving so much. This adoption has profoundly impacted us in so many ways through these children. Speaking for myself, I can say this. Over the years God has used  several means to soften my heart. Never has He used something, someone so powerfully as these two children. I once read or heard somewhere that a person does not go into adoption and come out unchanged; this is so true. It is difficult to explain but perhaps I can say it like this. For thirteen years I have pursued my God. I have sought to know Him, mainly through academics and religiosity. There have been many times at which I have felt closeness with God, but nothing like this. It was when I first looked at the faces of these two children that I was overcome with awe, feeling as though I was gazing into the face of Christ Himself. How does one respond to that, other than to fall to the ground crying out, “woe is me!” I will not presume to know what God is doing but I do know that much has and will continue to change in huge ways for the Pachecos!

Bless you!

p.s. we will be posting an area on this blog that give more information on the adoption process along with our experiences, tips, insights that we are learning in the process. Stay tuned.

Tags: adoption