Olympian Scott Hamilton Says ‘Lord Was Preparing My Heart’ Before Adopting
By Movieguide® Contributor
Olympic gold medalist figure skater Scott Hamilton and his wife Tracie grew their family of four to six when they adopted a brother and sister from Haiti.
In 2010, an earthquake hit Haiti, killing over 250,000 people in less than 30 seconds.
After the former Olympian and his wife saw the news, Tracie immediately felt called to help.
“I have to get down there to help,” she said, per PEOPLE.
While there, she and their son, Aidan, saw a Christmas ornament with the face of a boy named Jean Paul on it. He had become an orphan after the earthquake.
After meeting in person, “Jean Paul wouldn’t leave Tracie’s side,” Scott said.
To their surprise, the couple discovered that Jean Paul had a sister named Evelyn.
Once Scott could go to Haiti as well, Tracie warned Scott that Evelyn might not want to see him or go near him.
However, “She was in my arms the entire time,” he recalled. “She always be sitting next to me, looking up at me, and I thought, ‘What’s going on here?’ And I realized that the Lord was preparing my heart for her to just wreck it. And so we realized we were supposed to bring them home.”
“It took three profound instances of divine intervention for us to make that happen, but they’re now our son and daughter and they’ve been that way for nearly 10 years,” Scott said.
“Hamilton’s own experience as an adoptee fueled his appreciation for the profound impact of providing a loving home to children in need,” BNN reported.
Scott wasn’t sure how the two siblings would adjust to life in America.
“It can be hard bringing older kids here from difficult places,” he told PEOPLE. “There was the first time they rode an escalator, or drank out of a water fountain and you think, wow, there’s so much our kids take for granted that these kids have never seen.”
“It has been beautiful, it has been challenging, it has been amazing, it has been hard. It has been such a blessing and it’s been everything we expected it would be,” Tracie told TODAY shortly after their adoption in 2014.
Now at 23 and 18, “Jean Paul is going into the Air Force,” Scott revealed. “And my daughter is college bound, but she’s trying to work that out, and figure out what that might look like for her. She’s just beautiful and amazing and oh so smart.”
Scott has been relying on his faith as he battles a brain tumor. Movieguide® previously reported:
Olympic gold medalist figure skater Scott Hamilton joined “The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe” podcast, revealing that his brain tumor was the best thing that ever happened to him.
“I love that brain tumor,” Hamilton began. “It’s a nuisance at times but generally, I have to be grateful in all things. When I’m struggling now, I’ve got to be grateful. If I’m going through a good easy period, I have to really be grateful.”
“When you step into the world of social media, you see a lot of things,” he added. “And you see a lot of people who are hurting and who are lost, that are just trying to show everybody how great they’re doing or how funny they are. It’s an artificial world, it’s not a real world. But a lot of people have dedicated their lives to it. And that’s good, as long as we understand who we are is meant to be in a community, interacting and serving others.”
Do you have a heart for adoption?
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
