Meet Julner

Julner is 7 years old. His birthday is August 16. He is 44.5" tall and weighs 43.5 lbs. He has suffered from malnutrition and it has affected his growth. He is described as curious, excited,and adventurous. He is close to and protective of his little brother. He is a healthy strong boy, has a good appetite, sleeps hard, and has plenty of energy to play anything he desires. He loves to play kickball,basketball, and soccer. He has a great imagination and loves to build things. In order to represent honestly the reality of what these precious children have endured I will share some not so" pretty" issues that will need to be addressed.

Julner has been called upon to be older than his years, and he has toughened up and became very independent and strong because of it. He is "as tough as nails" and "as stubborn as an ox". He struggles with authority and rage. He is cautious with each new face before he lets his guard down. He was harshly abused by his mother, of whom he bears knife scars on his back from when she was angry with him. It will take some time for him to trust us and accept our love. He does respond well to positive reinforcement and he desires praise,so we will work with him using those methods. We have a wonderful International Adoption Department at Cincinnati Children's Hospital whom we have already consulted with and are now enrolled in their program. They will be helping us integrate the children into school, providing grief counseling to the children, and providing us resources to help them adapt here in the United States. Despite the bad things mentioned above, we look at it with a heavenly perspective---we all are broken and only love can heal us. We trust that our heavenly Father with provide us with His wisdom and guide us through the challenges that lay ahead.

Personally we are so thrilled to have been given this gift of life from the Lord. We adore his smile, which is infectious and is seen brightly in almost every picture and video we have received of Julner. He is a handsome child, full of life and endless possibilities. He has been chosen for our family. He has great value and we can't wait to see the miracles God will perform for him and through him.