This day in court has been highly anticipated because it was the long awaited termination of Rodee's fathers parental-rights. The reason this process has been so difficult is due to him being deported to Mexico. In full-on tradition of the judicial system, we ended up waiting in the lobby until about 11:30 before we had our moment in court. You would think this would have been treacherous, three 3yr olds in a court house for 2 and a half hours! In the past, there would have been no amount of suckers and peanut butter pretzels to appease my wild children. However, at present they have come so far. They are at peace inside and that peace of becoming a son affects everything. It also helped there was a sweet playroom full of toys.
Once we were finally called into the courtroom, all four of us were met by a larger then life man in a long black robe. This judge towered over me and I'm 6ft 2in! His stature was intimidating but his eyes were kind. He came out from behind his stand holding three giant stuffed animals. A Valentine bear for Jeriah, an Easter Bunny for Shawn, and a wild tiger for Rodee. The boys eyes lit up.
Before I go any further I want to tell you more about Rodee and how we got him. To start, his name is actually Rodrigo which means "famous power." His middle name is Duran which means "gift."
A significant difference in the arrival of Rodee versus our other three boys was that God had spoken to us very clearly that the 3 siblings were coming. My daughter had a series of dreams for almost four years that we were to expect 3 little boys. With Rodee we had no warning at all. We got a phone call about 4:30 in the afternoon and Rodee was at our front door three hours later. As soon as my wife, Ivey got the call the Lord spoke saying; "if I'm giving Rodrigo to you it's because I want him healed." Ivey then called me while I was out running with my phone. The Lord spoke to me instantaneously. He said; " Rodrigo will preach the Gospel." Since Rodee's been in our home we have seen miracles almost daily in his little life, and he is also one of the purest examples of the Gospel.
You see, as we sat in the courtroom in front of that giant, loving judge a lawyer stood up and recounted my sons physical abuse. The lawyer retold the story of how his caregiver shook him at the age of 1yr causing skull fractures. How the abuse slowed down the amount of blood flow to the brain preventing oxygen from being supplied to the delicate tissue and thus debilitating my son. The lawyer then went on to state the facts about how Rodee's mom had signed over parental rights and how his birth father has done nothing to claim him. In this unexpected moment when reality smacks you upside the face, my wife and I were moved to tears. But what the judge was about to say would melt us into a puddle. He stated; " I now rule that parental-rights of the birth father be terminated and custody of Rodrigo be given to the adoptive home; the family that wants and is able to care for this child." My wife and I broke down in tears as we left the courtroom. We were full of joy in combination with a sober heaviness. It's very hard to explain. While Rodee still is not fully adopted, we have about a month of paperwork left to complete, he is our son.
When we got in the car The Lord began to speak to me how Rodee's story displays the truth of His gospel. How that even in our most broken state, when we were abused and taken advantage of. When we were rejected by the ones that should love and care for us the most. When we are helpless, incapable of saving ourselves a great, big, awesome, loving Heavenly Father rescued us. He pursued us and lifted us up into huge arms of love. He payed the ultimate price by sending his only begotten son to die so we can be adopted. The beauty of the kingdom of God is that it's a family with a loving Father who has adopted a whole bunch of orphans.
And that's not even the end of the story! You see, just in the same way that everything Ivey and I have now belongs to Rodee, all that God has and is, we now have access to. While I'm writing this my son just knocked on my bedroom door and asked if he could have a pop sickle from the freezer. I responded, " of course you can, I already told you that you could all have a pop sickle, just get it." We forget sometimes that as sons of heaven we all have access to Gods freezer and its full of amazing treats! Since Rodee has been in our home medical doctors, therapists have been blown away by his progress. One of the most premier Dr's in our region stood up and began saying to my wife that Ivey is a miracle and what she is seeing in Rodee's life is nothing short of a miracle. We had a neurologist break down in tears bc he didn't expect Rodee to ever be anything more then a vegetable. One day in a separate court room in front of a different judge my wife stood up holding Rodee and told his story. The judge broke down in tears and the court reporter stopped what she was doing, stood to her feet and started praising the name of Jesus, giving glory to God!
Rodee is a daily display of Gods miraculous power and love at work. He is already a famous little boy that preaches the Gospel of Christ in ways most of us never could. I am just so very thankful that we said yes to that phone call. My wife always tells Rodee that he was our big surprise, and that is because he is our gift from God. She says that you never tell someone the gift your about to give them, you just surprise them with a blessing! Rodee is definitely our blessing!
I found these pictures of Rodee on line before he was abused. This is him soon after he was brought home from the hospital. Precious!
Here is Rodee a little older, he must be close to 1yr old in this shot, this is about the time he was shaken. In this pic he is sitting up and eating candy!
Heres a pic I found of him before we got him in his wheel chair after the abuse.
Here Rodee is now after he has been in our home. This is such a significant picture because the Dr's said he would probably never gain the use of his fine motor skills and he may never be able to use his fingers and hands. I guess Rodee is proving them wrong again. Gross!
And Here is Rodee sitting up on his own. This picture was just taken last week. He is defying all odds and making incredible progress. Thank You Jesus! And thank you to everyone praying and loving on this little guy!
