Thorburn Family

December 3, 2005, three years ago today, we first laid eyes on Jesse.   Can it even be only three years?   He was 6 1/2 then .. small for his age, blond, cute. We didn’t know at the airport that night that we were meeting the boy who would, within mere days, be known to us as our next child.  Our family life continues to be a vivid illustration of Proverbs 16:9  ”In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”  Our adventure was about to continue and we didn’t even know it.

A few months earlier, with absolutely no plans to ever adopt again, we had felt a compulsion to make ourselves available for free respite care for adoptive parents in difficult situations.  As we were in the process of figuring how to actually DO this respite care thing, we met a precious couple from Texas who had rescued three children w/needs from a Russian orphanage one year earlier, including this blond-haired bundle of energy and mischief.  Jesse would visit for a month, we figured, and that was the plan,  But, within a few days of Jesse’s arrival to our home, we knew we were adopting him. The legalities started and we finalized in court six months from his arrival into our home. Proverbs 16:9 all over again!

Jesse has been a real joy — he is a precious, delightful, and strong-hearted son.   We have been greatly blessed by his sense of family identity and loyalty, his infectious sense of humor (see picture :-)), his ability to make any number of unique sounds and noises :), his what-you-see-is-what-you-get personality, his developing strength and skill, and his sheer brightness and passion as a kid.  We love the type of sibling he is, as well.  Jesse deeply desired a brother since arriving here, and he missed his brother from the Texas family immensely. We told Jesse to start praying about a little brother. We are so thankful God gave Jesse his new little brother this year! He cares so well for him, teaches him things, plays well with him, and is a (mostly :)) good example to Ben.

Rich is the perfect father for Jesse.  They “clicked” right away and Rich shared with us later that he’d started praying about Jesse joining our family before we even actually met him, though there were no plans to adopt then. He just couldn’t get him off his mind and believed this was going to be bigger than we planned. Rich has a knack for bringing out the best in Jesse, and for knowing what will be good for him in any area.  I frequently tell Jesse that if he grows up to be anything like his Dad, he will be a great man!   As a mom, having this little boy has given me a different angle on boys and on raising them.   Though Jesse has been through a great deal in his short life, especially during his time in Russia, “winning” him as my son and ministering to his brokenness and difficulty, has come through very different means than “winning” a child in our other adoptions.  I quickly learned that Jesse is blessed most by food :), baking for him, keeping a fairly consistent schedule for him, reading to him, giving simple praise for accomplishments, forgiving/forgetting his “mis-steps,” and simple things like rubbing his back. He’s not too complicated, and he internalizes those simple things as acts of love, which is a blessing to see — we take this resilience & attachment as a gift from God.  

Since joining our family, Jesse has made a working potato cannon, and an enormous plane in our backyard (complete with an old ceiling fan for the propellor), and other cool things. Let’s just say that the day he learned his plane would not actually be able to fly.. was not a good day at our house :). Jesse’s also getting really good at Karate. Every time he tests, he is “promoted,” and it will be fun to see how far he gets with martial arts in years to come. He’s doing well in his school work, too. Jesse’s got a penchant for absorbing history, and he’s just about memorized, word for word, the first volume of Story Of The World, The Ancients, by Susan Wise Bauer, and he’s working on her second volume, Middle Ages. He listens to them over and over again and retells the stories to us frequently.

We praise God for our little man :^), for his amazing life & story, and pray that God will be His help, strength, and salvation for the rest of his days. Thanks for letting me “love on him” a little here.