Adopting Vali from Bulgaria - an International adoption story

What's your name where you from Hey Valley, this is a video about you Yeah You're right, I'm your brother Connor and how are you Valentina six and where you from Yep, you're from Bulgaria. So my family adopted Valley three years ago from Bulgaria And I wanted to sit down and finally tell her story. Should we tell the world your story? Let's cut them off Mom can tell the rest of your story Say mom tell my story Okay, now we're gonna cut them off and she's gonna tell the rest of the story Sound like a good plan. So let's go turn off that camera Say bye people Say we're gonna go let mom tell your story All right, so can you tell the first part of Valley story So in 2017 we started the adoption process to bring home Sophie from China We found out we'd be allowed to adopt another little unrelated little girl with down syndrome at the same time Shortly after we found out we could bring her home. We found out the Chinese government changed the laws So we went into early 2018 and brought Sophie home and we were super excited to have her as a part of our family That summer and into the fall. We were still thinking of you. I wrote and got a message from the agency He said yes and started the paperwork process right away by early 2019 we have all the paperwork submitted to China Expecting yes expecting them to make an exception when they said no, we were devastated. They were so sad The same time I was in the process of looking at some other children that were waiting for families from other countries and found this beautiful little girl from Bulgaria and The same day we found out we couldn't bring Where you in the process But this little girl looks like a and she sent me that exact same picture our precious little girl We started the paperwork process to bring her home Even a simple Google search reveals the horrific reality of Bulgarian orphanages not long ago Thankfully, they've gotten better in recent years, but nonetheless, they're still institutions and Valley was in one of these places So we were thrilled when we found out that we could visit her finally Okay, so I'm heading to Sofia Trying to surprise my parents not sure if it's gonna work I told him that I would get to Sofia In the evening tomorrow, but I'm actually gonna get there really early Tomorrow morning and then be at the airport, which is Earlier than they expected. I was planning it like this kind of the whole time so hopefully surprises them but even more exciting is I'm finally getting to see my little sister from Bulgaria for the first time and my parents are also gonna see it for the first time Welcome to Bulgaria I wanted to surprise you I Was successfully able to surprise my parents we hopped in the car with Ivan the in-country Adoption attorney and we headed to the apartment. We would be staying for just one night My parents filled out some paperwork and soon after that we went exploring Sofia for just a little bit But soon enough at the very next morning It was time to leave to the city where Valley was from and meet her for the very first time After just one night in Sofia, we drove a few hours to the small town of Plevin where Valley's orphanage was And we are sitting in front of we believe an administration building in Plevin and I think we might have passed the building that we're going back to to meet her Our attorney is inside with the papers talking to whoever he needs to talk to and then director and nurse and eventually Right after recording that we found out that the building that we were in front of was actually the orphanage So he got out of the car with excitement and headed inside Considering that we were complete strangers to Valley. It didn't take her that long to warm up Thankfully, we were able to send her a photo book with our pictures in it before going that way She could be familiar with us It was just so incredible to finally get to meet my little sister for the very first time After only having seen pictures of her and knowing that after a few months we'd finally get to bring her home Unfortunately the first visit with Valley didn't last that long We went to the Airbnb that we had booked to check in and what was crazy as we quickly found out that the lady Who owned our Airbnb actually worked at the orphanage and knew Valley. It was such an incredible moment I Later that day we were able to visit Valley again and thankfully over the time of our next few days in Pleven We were able to visit Valley for a few hours each day And all that did was grow our heart more close to her and and made us love her so much more And all we wanted to do was be able to bring her home But unfortunately, there was still paperwork that needed to be filled before we could do that But we were so thankful for each and every moment that we had with her during that time I was lost in the Of a foreign nation In a shop to escape the rain not to have a Conversation and that's the moment you step in To find some shelter to and get a world you see my girl Cuz I don't know What your lips are saying and get a world But it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard And just a small hello So that we can say Doesn't sound like much but it's enough to make me stay Those precious few moments that we had with Valley passed by like a blink of the eye and Honestly, we were just so so eager to go back and bring her home Unfortunately, my parents needed to fly out they went back home and I left to another country but soon enough my mom and my sister Megan were flying back to Bulgaria in August of 2019 to bring home Valley once and for all After meeting my mom and my sister at the airport in Bulgaria, we drove to the town where Valley was and in anticipation Spent just one night only to wake up the next day to head out and finally pick her up and bring her home forever forever forever Oh sweet Valentina, I wish you could understand my words. You're safe now You are loved you have a mommy and daddy and brothers and sisters you have a family now I know this is scary. I didn't know it's confusing but one day I promise all this will make sense You're brave and beautiful and I want you to know we will be your family forever We are praying for God to heal all of your hurt and to allow us to teach you what love is Because of his great love. I Love you, my precious daughter. Oh Valley was now finally forever ours Unfortunately, we had a long way back to the capital city and when we got there Valley had to do a medical appointment But after that we were able to spend the next few days as we were finalizing the paperwork before flying back just getting to love and know her so much more and Just like that our time in Bulgaria was coming to a close as all the paperwork was done And it was time to finally bring Valley home to the u.s. forever After all of that time Valley was now forever home safe in our arms forever Yet it wasn't always easy because the thing is Spending three years of your life in an institution Being abandoned at birth all of these things come with trauma and pain yet Here's the amazing thing love can mend even the hardest of things Valley has now been with us in our home and in our family for more than three years Meaning that she's been in the context of love for more than she's been in Isolation and in orphanage walls So we are so grateful that she is fully and forever Ours not some orphan in some other part of the world, but ours my sister My parents child and she is so very loved I hope that if there's one takeaway from Valentina's story that it's simply this That love can change Everything we can be in a place of brokenness and of pain, but then love comes sweeping in and changes everything it makes The broken parts whole it mends the wounds and the trauma and all of that heartache love and family and safe arms So the next time you think about adoption Understand this it's messy and it's broken and there's pain but love can come in and Make it all go away and folks That's it. That's that that's Almost all I've got but actually I wouldn't want to take a moment. I want to thank you So we're going to set this up real quick, let's see Okay, so I want to thank you for watching this video like really really I appreciate it this this took me three years But but before you go I actually have something For this one and let me tell you like this this is actually really important This is really important because this is Really at the end of the day what I think is the most beautiful thing about adoption Because adoption is this beautiful picture of My favorite love story. My favorite love story is is this and and and and this is not religious This is this is truly a love story. So so hear me out. Please don't click off of this is That all of us Yes, we are living in pain suffering even our own sin and our brokenness and Shame and guilt that weighs us down and see all of these things sin separates us from the God who? formed us who made us in his image and his likeness and and The thing is his desire was always to be with us was always for us to to walk with him and to talk with him to dwell with him and that's why he made us but but We sinned and and fell short of that and and here's the thing though. This is why it's such a beautiful love story because God loved us so much that he sent his son To sacrifice and to to to love us to the highest level of love Loving on a sacrificial level loving one Loving someone so much that you're willing to die for them. That's what Christ did for you and for me He loved us so much that he was willing to die for us that he was willing to pay the price that we couldn't pay He was literally willing to take all of our sin and hang on a tree Sacrificing and shedding his blood for us, but that's not the end of the story So he didn't just die for our sins to take our sins away, but three days later He rose again and he came back to life making a way where there was no way Coming back and making it so that all we had to do is believe in him and the sacrifice that he paid And we could be made whole our Brokenness could be taken away. Our shame could be taken away We don't have to walk in the same patterns of sin We can walk in freedom and that's really what I want to share with you And I know all of this might be confusing but please hear me out that it's actually really this simple it's actually the picture of adoption See adoption is sacrificial love see there's no reason my parents in their 50s needed to adopt another child besides the love that they had for Someone without a home and it's just like God who is in heaven who actually can be compared to a father So in love with his children us the ones that he made the ones that he created the ones that he so longs to be with But we've walked away and we are living separate from him we're living almost in like a spiritual orphanage and somewhere that's so isolated from from family so isolated from love and see God came and Said no, I want you. I want you to be mine I want you to be with me forever and ever and ever and that's why he sent Jesus So that we could be adopted into his family that we could spend eternity With the God who made us and who loved us more than any human will ever be able to express There's no way to express love of the way that God loved us first So you on the other side of this camera on the other side of the screen I pray that this video blessed you and it spurs you on to love others and it spurs you on and gives you Hope that there doesn't have to be this hopeless situation that there doesn't have to be kids stuck in orphanages But more than that, I hope that it shows you that there is a God who is deeply in love with you So hear me out when I say Jesus really truly loves you Yes, we've all sinned But he already paid the price for us to be forgiven He wants you in his family forever forever forever a child Before the Creator God who breathed life into our bones the God that we all sinned against he desires you And it's as simple as believing in the name of Christ and turning from your sin And walking in freedom and in hope because he is He is deeply