Plus two: Stutzman family plans next adoption
May 2012 Posted in People By Kristine Thomas
Jacob Stutzman, 13, was the first to say what other members of his family were thinking. “When are we going to adopt again?” the Evergreen Elementary School student asked his parents Amber and Adam in November. Jacob traveled with his parents to Ethiopia in 2010 to visit the orphanage where his now-little sister lived. He saw people living in dumps and children roaming the streets. The oldest of six, Jacob will become the oldest of eight, when a brother, now 12, and a sister, now 6, arrive – hopefully in late August or early September from Ethiopia. In December 2010, Adam and Amber adopted Seble, from Ethiopia. Almost 2 years old, Seble toddles after her older siblings who include – Cassidy and Zachary, 10; Noah, 8; and Logan, 7. At Coolidge & McClaine Park she follows them up the stairs to the slide; holds up her arms to be placed in a swing and joyfully picks daisies and dandelions with Zachary and Cassidy. The news that two more children will become part of their family only seems natural and the right thing to do for the Stutzman children. “It’s exciting and it will be fun,” Jacob said. “I am excited to have a brother close to my age.” “We are going to have an even bigger family,” Noah said. “I will have three sisters but there are still more boys.” Already driving a 12-passenger van and requiring two carts to go grocery shopping, Amber realizes there will be more laundry, more food to prepare and more things to add to her already never-ending list as a mom. When people question her desire to adopt two more children, she simply looks at Seble and knows she has to do what she can to help two more. Sitting on a park bench next to Adam, Amber recalled how she went to the government agency where Seble was first housed. “I remember there were two caregivers and about 17 babies in the nursery,” she said. “They were crying and their diapers were wet and they were holding up their arms to be held and taken care of.” When she went to the toddlers’ room, the children just laid in their cribs, no longer expecting someone to come to their aid, she said. That could have been Seble, Amber said, as she watched her daughter gleefully grab handfuls of sawdust at the park and put it in her husband’s hands, then giggle as Adam spilled it back onto the ground. “I know I can’t save the world, but I know I can help one kid or two kids,” she said. “Our life has done a complete shift after returning from Ethiopia. It has made me appreciate what’s important and understand there is so much more to life than things.” With her adventurous personality, Seble fits right into the family, Amber laughed. “You would think I would get at least one laid back child, but all of them are constantly on the go,” she said. As Amber and Adam sat on the park bench, they marveled how the older children looked after the younger ones. “Without God in our lives, I would not have the strength to do all this,” Amber said. “You have to have a foundation as a mom. I hope my children learn from all this that you have to get outside your comfort zone in order to make a difference.”
http://ourtownlive.com/ourtown/?p=2304
No comments:
Post a Comment