Woefully Inadequate

It has become glaringly obvious that I am nearly completely ignorant to not only the plight of the widowed, orphaned and impoverished around the globe, as well as how to help or where to start. Honestly my heart tells me to quit lurking on the Waiting Children websites and scoop them all up and being them home. Looking at all those beautiful faces, most of them with amazing smiles, is painful but it gives me an opportunity to pray for each one my name and to keep their reality as a part of my day-to-day life. Something happens in your heart when you read about a child who wants a family with parents who will love them and not be mean. And it hurts. A lot. So again I fantasize about bringing them all home, but only for a moment. Then I pray and ask for a way to help.

I have been talking more with people I know (and even get to call friends! Yay me!) who are also passionate about adoption and caring for the orphans. It is amazing to me how strongly their call to adopt is, and also how they absolutely knew where their children were. Ethiopia, China, Korea,South America, or state-side - they knew it in their hearts. My mom always tells how when she first saw me, in a room with the other babies, she knew I was hers. I imagine it is that way for all parents when they meet or see their child(ren) for the first time either in person or in a photo. It is a long and heart-wrenching journey from when the idea first tugs at their hearts until the final papers are signed, but to see their family after the fact, to see the glow both parents and child have..., well it seems trite to say it was all worth it.

So I challenge you. Perhaps adoption is not what God has planned for your family and there should be no guilt with that. Well unless it puts you to action in which case run with it! Still, if you are not feeling like adoption is for you, or at least not right now, there is still plenty that you can do. Pick a state or country and Google a search for children available for adoption and look through their faces. Read their stories. Smile and laugh at how impossible beautiful they are. And then pray for them. Many agencies allow you to donate or sponsor these waiting children (which is just a 21st century way of saying orphan without conjuring images of Oliver Twist,) so if you are able to help financially this is a great way to do so.

Here is one of the agencies that I have been stalking lurking praying over: The Adoption Exchange.

My heart is completely drawn to older orphans - the ones who may be awkward and not as cute as the babies and toddlers, who are carrying some heavy baggage and have been passed around and rejected some for their entire lives, and who are starring at that birthday that will age them out of the system or orphanage. They will not only be homeless but also family-less. Completely alone. Depending of the report as many as 30% of these kids will commit suicide within that first year on their own. Many turn to crime, drugs, alcohol, prostitution and end up on the streets or in jail. That is what keeps me up at night and gets me up in the morning. That is what gets me to my knees several times a day. And chances are if my eyes are red and puffy that is the reason too.