March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day, a day to raise global awareness about Down syndrome and to celebrate the vital role people with Down syndrome play in our communities.
In recognition, I’m airing a conversation on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly that I had with Heather and Josh Avis, who found God’s grace in their own lives by adopting a child with Down syndrome.
Heather and Josh walked a long, difficult path through infertility. At every turn, their faith was tested. Despite persistent prayer, nothing fruitful happened. After exhausting their efforts to become pregnant, their dreams for a family lay in ashes.
And yet, in the midst of their pain, God seemed to be saying, “I have something special for you — something as rich and as meaningful as giving birth to biological children.”
That plan began to unfold the day their Romanian social worker contacted them and said, “Babies with Down syndrome were just placed with our agency. Consider adopting one. They’re difficult to place.”
Despite their reservations about the challenges that they knew lay ahead, Heather and Josh changed their mind according to this simple logic: There was a baby who needed a mom and a dad, and Heather and Josh were a mom and dad. That was enough.
I believe their story will inspire you to prayerfully consider adoption or to come alongside an adoptive family that need help.
Adoption is close to God’s heart. There is no greater call in my mind than to take care of the widow and the orphan. James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (ESV).