Today is Thursday, June 9th, 2005; Karen's Korner #564
I received an update from some business friends who now live in Florida. He is a very successful ag real estate person. They are both moving into and through their 50s; between them they have four adult children. The email was of a magazine article which told in part about them and one of their most recent ventures
When we traveled to Florida a couple of winters ago and stopped in to see them, this couple was frantically working to adopt a twin brother and sister from Russia. The two children were about seven, I think. And they had been guests in this couple's home for a few weeks several months before. The program is designed for people to get to know these children and maybe.......
Well, it worked for this husband and wife team. They were hooked, but the paperwork and details had stalled. But they went ahead, battling the papers and governments' regulations. Like most things this successful couple does, they didn't give up when it looked hopeless at times.
Last summer, we attended an adoption celebration on the grounds of Iowa State University, where many of the known-names at ISU were present to celebrate with this family. The new kids are now American children, complete with American sounding first names and a new last name.
Not only have they adopted two, the agency through which they worked is once again bringing a couple of dozen Russian children to their part of Florida later this summer. And because of their business success, this family has set up a "no interest" loan fund for families wanting to adopt but without the ready cash for the process, which costs about the same amount as one year college tuition at a private college. Making it possible for the impossible to happen to even more people.
I often wondered what would prompt this couple to take on two more children. Help others to do the same thing. They have busy lives. They have most of the "nice" things that money can buy. Why not just sit back and enjoy these comforts? After all, "they aren't as young as they used to be".
Could it have been the near-fatal auto accident of the son of the successful dad a few years ago?
Or could it have been the six years that "mom" spent as a foster child in someone else's home between the ages of 12 and 18? A fact I wasn't aware of until I read the article. I don't know. Probably never will.
But it made we think of the Bible verse that says "do unto others, as you would have them do unto you". And maybe, just maybe they are "doing unto others, what has already been done to and for them"!
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