Brotherly Love

Jacques (15) and New little sister Lovenie (2)
Jacques (with the walkman) and friends loving on little Lovenie

Our son Jacques in his school uniform

God has blessed us in such a big way with each of the 5 children he has allowed us to have as part of our family. God has given us a love for these kids that is a God given love that you naturally have for your children. Our bond was instant and it was as if I had always known them and they had always been our children. I have mentioned before how very nervous I was when I believed that God was calling us to adopt a teenager. Our oldest bio son is only 8 so I don't exactly know how to be a Mom to a 15 year old son! After meeting Jacques all those fears were wiped away. The moment I hugged him for the first time I knew that he had always been meant to be our son and God was giving us a very wonderful gift! I just can't say enough wonderful things to describe Jacques. In the above pictures you don't see a lot of smiles, but do not be fooled.. he is a very sweet and happy young man and everytime I looked at him he would give me a beautiful big slow smile that would melt my heart! He is quiet and shy and so very kind.

The little bit we know about Jacques's past before the orphanage is that when he was very little he was taken to a hospital very sick and was "abandoned" there. He did not know how old he was, who his parents are, or where he was from. He could only tell them that his name was Jacobin. They broke that name up into a first and last so his name has been Jacques Obain. I am hesitant to use the word abandoned since we do not know what really happened. God's put it on my heart that there is likely much more to the story. It's possible someone else found Jacques sick and brought him into the hospital and his family never knew what happened to him. He has spent most of his life with Hope for the Children of Haiti where he has received love, food, medical care, and exceptional education. I wonder sometimes if he has parents out there wondering what happened to their precious son. If they have searched for him or their hearts have ached wondering if he is okay and where he is. I pray that if it's the Lord's will that some day we would have answers and bring peace to his birth family. I do know for sure that if they could see him today they would be so proud of the kind, handsome, and smart young man he has become who loves God so much and has so much love to give to others! I was glad that while I was in Haiti I got to witness him connect to his new brothers and sisters. The other 4 siblings we are adopting are all related by birth but you would never imagine that Jacques was not also. While in Haiti I saw him really connect with his brothers and sisters and saw many times how he would put a protective arm around Jude and Stephanie. Just as God so clearly gave me a love for him I could see that God had given Jacques the same kind of love for every member of our family. I was especially impressed with the bond that he had with Lovenie (age 2). He is so kind and attentive to her and she responds so well to him. It was so very sweet!

Here is a shared bit of email from Kez about Jacques jumping into action as big brother:

I gave out all the gifts that you sent for your kids and for their friends. They were very grateful and the beads have almost all been used up already. They were a hit. I reminded Jacques that you had not been sure about adopting him when you wrote the card. And I brought Lovenie into my room to give her the blankie and read her the card, but she looked at me and she said “Are you nuts, weird white person? Get my brother in here and don’t you dare touch me again!” Well, not quite, but she wouldn’t stop crying even when I gave her a cookie (first time the cookie trick has ever failed me in Haiti), so I finally gave her to Kim, ran to the boys’ house, and told Jacques we had a diplomatic emergency on the third floor. He had her quiet and playing with a balloon in seconds, that bum. She walked the whole way back to her room herself and when we got near her bed, she literally ran and jumped into it. She plopped down, holding her blankie, gave Jacques the queen look and said “Next time, come get me yourself. Don’t let that creepy white girl put her non-Mommy hands on me.”

(This is all of course said in good humor as Lovenie does not actually talk, even though she is almost 3, due to her stroke.)