Cleveland Children's Photographer, Baby, Newborn, Maternity, Family, Senior, Ohio, Photographer

I was so blessed to photograph this family on Mother's Day. It was Anna's first mother's day as the mom of these two little boys!

I can not do the story of how this family came to be justice....so here it is from the words of Anna. May you be blessed, encouraged, and moved by their hearts...

On October 13, 2008, we became unsuspecting parents in Africa. We call it our "surprise" adoption - In many ways it was like a surprise pregnancy. While we were living as missionaries in Uganda, Micah landed in our arms after being abandoned on a bus. At the time he was malnourished and very near death. We had only been married 8 months and children were not yet on our horizon (or so we thought!) but it was clear that God was giving us an obvious and perfect opportunity to demonstrate His love to a vulnerable and sick little boy who needed it badly. More than just caring for him, we knew we were to give of ourselves, not just our time or money.

James 1:27 says, "Pure and undefiled religion is this: To look after widows & orphans in their distress and to keep oneself undefiled by the world." On the day Micah entered our world, we were confronted with the clear and direct call of God on our lives to care for an orphan. The choice before us was one of obedience and surrender to God's plan for our lives, or rejection of His call.

By saying "Yes," from that moment onward we were forever changed.

Shortly after we began our adoption journey to Micah, little Judah entered our world as well. We thought, "Why show Jesus to just one child and not two?" To us, bringing Judah into our family meant another little guy to love and to share life with. Another son! To Judah, it meant being rescued from an indefinite period of life in an institution. How could we dare say "no" to a family for him and by default say "yes" to him living life in an institution?

After much paperwork, time, energy & investment, both boys arrived in Michigan to their forever home with us in November 2009. People regularly come up to us and say, "Those little guys sure are lucky!" But in all truthfulness, we are the "lucky" ones. We are blessed beyond imagination to be Micah & Judah's parents. We've been given a role to play in their story of redemption from illness, loss of parents, vulnerability, and abandonment...To a place of health, belonging, family, and love. We realize that tremendous mercy has been extended to us through Jesus, which causes us to worship Him by extending mercy to the little ones He has told His people to care for.

There are approximately 143 million orphans in this world, just like Micah & Judah once were. Statistically speaking, with 2 billion professing Christians in this world...If only 7% of Christians adopted, there would be no more orphans. The reality is, there are far more families able to adopt than those that actually do it. For those who cannot adopt, there are so many ways to support the adoption of children into loving families.