My Hero

July 20, 2012

As time goes on, I am starting to realize I fail as a blogger. I think the initial excitement of putting my voice out there was what got me through those first posts. Now, I just can’t find the discipline to sit down and write what I’m thinking.

Summer has been such a blur. It feels like just yesterday I pulled into the driveway of my parent’s house—so excited to finally be home. Now, two months later, I’m starting to pack up my things again and prepare for my junior year of college (whoop).

Anyone that knows me well knows that I am a homebody. I would rather hangout with my family than friends when I am home for breaks. This might be from being separated for months at a time, or just because that’s who I am… regardless, my family means everything to me.

Last fall, my parents adopted a little boy from the Philippines—Lawrence Taghap Mintzlaff. At just five years old, this little boy has already undergone and overcame some of the biggest trials a little boy should never have to face.

He is the focus of my post today. My little hero. My brother. Lawrence.

It all started when we were living in Hawaii. My mom felt God calling her to adopt. She began talking to an adoption agency in the area and felt that the Philippines had the greatest need for parents. The whole process took over two years. Finally, after struggling with the adoption agency to release Lawrence, they left for the Philippines to pick up their new little boy.

I know many of you are probably thinking, “Wow, what a cute story.” However, that is not where the story ends. To begin, Lawrence was born in a Laundromat and his mom quickly gave him up because she couldn’t take care of him. He was then sent to a local orphanage. In the Philippines, orphanages are far from glorious. Caretakers leave infants in their cribs for days at a time. The back of Lawrence’s head is permanently flat from him lying in bed all day. When my parents picked up Lawrence, he was malnourished and almost all his baby teeth were rotted to the core. He had no concept of “mom” or “dad” and could not speak one word of English.

Imagine. 5 years old. Being taken away from everything you knew. Taken away from what you thought was your family, to a country where you couldn’t speak the language. Brought into a family that didn’t look like you and told you that this was your new home. I don’t know about you, but I could never do that.

This little boy did. As soon as my parents brought him home, we all knew he was meant to be with us. He quickly started picking up English from listening to all of us talk to him, and began making friends around the neighborhood. My parents took him to the dentist and all his decayed teeth were removed. He was given fake teeth for the front and caps for the back. With his new set of teeth, everyone could tell Lawrence gained a whole new level of confidence and got his smile back.

Adoption is no easy process. It is something you definitely have to be called to do. My parents struggle with Lawrence every day to teach him the simplest things such as his alphabet or days of the week. He still isn’t fluent in English and is a year behind all the other kids his age. But he’s learning.

Honestly, there have been times when I think to myself, “Why did my parents adopt. Our family was perfect before.” Then I realize how selfish that is. This little boy had nothing. If my family hadn’t adopted him, he would most likely still be in the orphanage due to how old he was. Furthermore, God calls all of us to help the orphans. In Matthew 18:5 he writes,

“And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.”

Lawrence is a part of our family now. He is a Mintzlaff and he is my brother. Nothing in this world would ever make me want to change that. I might have only known him a year, but I feel like I have loved him forever. God knew He was going to send Lawrence to our family and I believe that He began preparing all of our hearts to be willing and open to this new child long before the adoption was even considered.

Hero: man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

To some, a hero is a famous war veteran that saved a life, an athlete that changed the game, or a man wearing a cape. But to me, my little brother ranks right up there with the best of them.