Christmas is coming quickly. While buying and giving gifts is a focus for many this time of year, sometimes it’s a gift that can’t be purchased that means the most. This year, Brianna Droski, a special needs 4-year-old, has a new mom for Christmas, someone to love her and care for her no matter what.

Her grandmother, Deb Droski, 58, a former over-the-road truck driver, took in Brianna as a foster child in December 2009. With the help of Christopher Fisher, adoption case worker for Lutheran Adoption Service in Grand Rapids, Deb adopted the girl on Kent County Adoption Day, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011, before Judge Daniel V. Zemaitus.

Brianna has cerebral palsy. “Brianna looks like a normal little kid,” Deb Droski said. “When we go out to a restaurant, the waitress will ask her what she wants to eat, and we have to explain that she’s tube-fed.” Brianna really needs her new mother. She has the mental capacity of a baby, can’t swallow liquids, can’t walk or bear her weight, and may always need to wear diapers. “She can’t talk,” Deb said. “She makes noises, that’s her way of talking. It was hard at first, but I understand her pretty well now.”

Last January, Brianna started going to pre-school half days at Ken O’ Sha Park Elementary School. She also has therapy two or three times a week. While Deb was a bit worried about adopting her special needs grandchild at her age, she knew she needed Brianna as much as Brianna needed her. “God brought us together for a reason,” Deb said. “She has been my rock, and I have been hers.”

Our One Church, One Child, One Family program encourages church communities to work together to find one family who will adopt a child or sibling group. Go to this web page for more information about how you and your church can help find "forever families" for children in need.