, the Lord Jesus Christ. Phil. 3:13-14, 20Kerry and Bruce Ploeser could have finished their backyard, they could have finally gotten a pool, they could have taken their family of five to Europe on vacatio
n, but instead they decided to store up treasure in heaven. Kerry and Bruce chose to adopt a little man, of five, from China and make him part of their family.Daniel was not born completely whole, by the world's standards. His fingers were not fully formed on both hands nor were his toes. In China, a child with any "defect" is seen as less valuable. Thankfully, Daniel’s birth parents decided that he should live, and gave him to the state. He was placed in a type of foster home and lived there until the blessed day of his adoption. When he arrived in the United States, Daniel was carried into a new world of tastes, sights, smells, feelings and most importantly family. He became the youngest of four and the welcomed companion of the Ploeser’s youngest son, Jack.
Bruce and Kerry Ploeser are two of the warmest, most giving people I have ever met. They give freely of their finances, time and lives. When Kerry told me she was praying about adoption, I was slightly shocked, simple because that is not part of the norm in our culture, especially for people who already have there own children. But I was not surprised that she would be willing to open up her home and heart to a child not her own, as well as a child with a physical disability.
As I mentioned before, Jack is the Ploeser's youngest son. He was diagonsed with mild autism a couple of years ago. Kerry and Bruce are amazing as they deal with this beautiful, young man. If you met Jack, you would fall in love with him. He is full of life and imagination. He draws you into his world and lets you spend time with him in a place of innocence, but as a parent of an autistic child there are some real challenges. The appeal of Jack’s world is also a struggle for everyday life. It is hard to direct a child to read, take ballet or even be a part of a family dinner when they are living in a world apart from yours. Yet the patience Kerry has as she interact with Jack’s world, helping him into ours, truly reveals Christ’s life in Kerry. Bruce is equally as tender with Jack as Kerry, and together they provide the attention and security Jack most needs.
This sincere love and care is not limited to Jack. The Ploeser’s other two kids are well-mannered kids, full of life. They have a light in them that comes from being valued and loved by their parents. This is the world that young Daniel was welcomed into last year, and it is the world he is thriving in today.
Not only has Daniel become part of a loving family, but he has also become part of a family that will love him i
nto eternity. Jesus is the heart of the Ploeser family. He is where the love, the patience and the care come from in their lives. He is the one that Kerry most wanted to introduce Daniel to. It is one thing to act as a humanitarian and redeem a life from hardship on an earthly level, as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have done. Their love for mankind is noble, but for Kerry and Bruce there was more than earthly salvation; there was the hope for eternal salvation for little Daniel.
He has heard about the love of God, he has seen it lived out by his family and by the church community that loves him so deeply, and each day he interacts with Jesus more and more. As his understanding of English has increased, so too has his knowledge of God and His Word, he now prays to Jesus in his own words, from his heart. What greater treasure can be stored up in heaven, than that of a life?
As I read this story to my kids, my oldest said, “Well, Daniel is better than a pool. He is a lot of fun.” I am sure all of the Ploesers agree. They chose to live as citizens of heaven.
But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I
have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain
Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law,
but one that is through faith in Christ. The righteousness from God based
on faith. My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death assuming that I will
somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead….Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do; forgetting what is
behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal a prize
promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus….our citizenship is in
heaven. Phil. 3:7-11,13-14,20
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