The Thing About Maxim

Here is the thing about Maxim...

I've been in love with him for years. How many years, I forget. The past five years have been a blur.

So, I did a little research last night and I found that I first blogged about Maxim in February of 2009:

http://ralphcrew.blogspot.com/2009/02/can-you-see-in-memory.html

I was saddened last week to learn that my favorite little guy from Reece's Rainbow had been moved away from his baby orphanage and placed in a mental institution. Little Maxim is now in a very dangerous place. Many children who are transferred don't survive for long.Sure, he has crossed eyes - totally fixable. Can you look beyond the eyes and see the little boy who wants to run and play? The little boy who deserves to know the love of a mommy and daddy? The little boy who is priceless not because he is perfect, but because he has intrinsic value as a human being?

I described him as one of my favorite Reece's Rainbow children, so I must have been praying for him for many months prior. That would be about four years ago. What I didn't say in that post was that I was so upset that he was transferred to an institution, that it made me physically sick for a couple of days. Something about this boy grabbed my heart from the very beginning.

And wouldn't let go. Apparently...

In November of 2009, I tried to raise money for Maxim as part of the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree:

http://ralphcrew.blogspot.com/2009/11/its-here.html

And:

http://ralphcrew.blogspot.com/2009/11/drop-in-bucket.html

And in December 2009 I wrote:

This is a boy who has ALREADY been transferred to a mental institution. He NEEDS a family to commit to him as soon as possible. There is a family out there for him. Somewhere. Where are they? 

Wait. What if it is us? How do I know? Leslie is one woman who "gets" me. She recently wrote that what she wants for Christmas is for her Reece's Rainbow prayer child to have a home. I would be so pleased if Maxim would have a family. (Sure, I'd like it to be ours in case you are wondering.) That would make for a pretty wonderful Christmas! 

Did I really write that?

Later in December we collected coins for Maxim's grant fund:

http://ralphcrew.blogspot.com/2009/12/today-is-day.html

http://ralphcrew.blogspot.com/2009/12/counting-coins.html

A digital display indicated the running total in dollars. It was fun to watch the money add up! We poured the rest of the coins in and watched the total approach $100. We all cheered when we hit $100 and the counting continued.

Then...I bumped the jar. Yes, it fell to the floor...smashed! After all the care that I took to carry it carefully while it was heavy and full, I had to bump it and smash it now that it was empty. *sigh*

That was memorable!

In January of 2010, the Lord led us to Theodore, who was at risk of being transferred to a mental institution in Ukraine. He needed a family to come quickly and we answered the call for him.

Theo was in such poor, pitiful condition when we met him, I knew that we had done the right thing. But I never stopped thinking about Maxim and praying for his family. Yeah, there was some guilt, too. Heavy guilt.

To be continued...