It has been a while since I posted anything about adoption. I know for a while there every post fell into this category. Believe me, it is not because adoption is not on my heart. I still check my favorite adoption blogs daily, pray constantly, and wait for God to move us in whatever direction He chooses to fulfill His call in James 1:27 to care for orphans. I don't think we are done yet with adopting children of our own. In fact, Bryce asked me today why we didn't just go ahead and do it now since Patrick is at "such a cute age." Yes, he is cute alright - and exhausting! However, being exhausted is just something I have pretty much been for the past 17 years and I don't really see that changing in the foreseeable future. I can rest in Heaven, right?
As long as the 147 million are still out there, and believe me, they most definitely are - then there is work to do. If we call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, then we must live as He instructs us. We must love Him with all of our heart, mind, and strength and we must love our neighbors as ourselves. Our "neighbors" can be right next door, across the country, or across the world. It makes NO difference. These precious children are crying themselves to sleep at night. They are wondering why no one comes. The "lucky" ones are in orphanages or foster homes where there is enough food and no abuse. There are many more that are in horrendous conditions - waiting, praying, begging for someone to love them.
Those are the healthy ones. Then you have those with special needs. The unwanted of the unwanted. The ones with physical, medical issues too complex to think about. The ones with mental issues that earn them the label "hopeless." Let me tell you, there is hope for EVERY child. I have seen it in the many, many blogs I read. Blogs like Adeye and Anthony at No Greater Joy Mom and Dad. They have adopted four special needs children, two of which were considered "hopeless" and one who, in fact, would most certainly be dead now if they had not found her. These girls are flourishing. They are healthy and alive and happy! They bring joy to their family who loves them beyond measure. When I look at pictures of these girls and others I see the power of redemption. I see the hand of a mighty, mighty God who works to bring hope into our lives and into the lives of the least of these.
Just because I haven't blogged about it lately, does not mean it isn't in the front portion of my brain most of the time. Next to my relationship with Christ and my husband and children, my passion to advocate for orphans is one of the most important things to me. We can't just talk about our faith, sit in church on Sunday, sing a few songs and then go out and live our lives like the rest of America. We can't do that. If we do, our faith is DEAD. We serve a living God! A God who controls the wind and the waves. A God who heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, and makes the lame walk! He is still in the business of doing those things, despite the fact that in America we are too consumed with ourselves and our financial state to open our eyes and look around us. He doesn't need our money, He desires our very lives.
God is doing some pretty big things in our family right now. Soon, I will be able to share the God stories that I know are coming. One thing that will not change, though, is that my dreams are haunted by huge eyed children who long for a Mommy and a Daddy to kiss them goodnight. There is a great testimony on Anthony's blog - No Greater Joy Dad. You can read it yourself, but I will leave you with this thought, in case you are thinking that you can't adopt a child because you struggle to parent the kids you have. The author, Aus, is testifying to God's grace in leading he and his wife to adopt three young children after their three biological children are grown. He states a list of things he "knows" about parenting and to paraphrase, he says that no matter how hard we try or how much we love our kids we are not going to be perfect parents and our children WILL make poor decisions at times. However, those things aside, in the life of an orphan, a parent who tries yet still makes mistakes is light years better than NO PARENT AT ALL!!!!
Ask God to show you how you can advocate for the orphans in our midst.
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