24 Hours

Our church just started a new sermon series on how 24 hours can change someones life completely. They are talking about the 24 hours before Jesus died on the cross but it really got me thinking about how Jaxson's life completely changed in 24 hours.

This first picture is Jaxson as an orphan in Ch*na. We were waiting in a room for him and this is the very scared, beat up (he had been in a fight at the orphanage that morning) little boy that walked in the room. Jaxson had no idea that in the next 24 hours he would go from being a orphan and having no family to being a very loved little boy in a family of 5.

This picture was probably taken 15-20 minutes after Jaxson walking in the room. What a very scary time for the child. We had signed some papers to get legal guardianship of him until the adoption the next day and then we had to take a family picture right away and it had to be perfect. Jaxson had no idea what was going on.
This next picture was taken right after we got back to our room with our very scared little boy. This was probably only 30-40 minutes after seeing him walk in that room for the first time.This next picture was a moment I will never forget. Jaxson cried this horrible cry of sadness that only adoptive families know about. He had cried for 2 hours straight and wouldn't let me put him down for a second and wouldn't let Chris touch him (Chris didn't give up on him though and just talked to him gently). All the sudden Jaxson just came out of his sadness and started giving us kisses.This next picture is first thing the next morning. Jaxson figured out he had his own toys and his own clothes, something he had never had before. He no longer had to get beat up over toys. The last picture is just about 24 hours after that very scared little boy walked into that room. No longer an orphan because God had placed him in a family that loved him very much. Isn't it amazing the difference in him in just 24 hours?