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Adoption
I was recently given a suggestion for a book to read by a friend of ours. After she only read one chapter, she e-mailed me because it fit with everything I’ve been feeling lately. I ordered my own copy and it came in the mail today. I read the first chapter and cried. How can you read the words (from the book Adopted for Life), “For a couple of seconds, my mind flashed back to the first time I ever saw these two boys. They were lying in excrement and vomit, covered in heat blisters and flies, in an orphanage somewhere in a little mining community in Russia.” and not cry. Or read the blog of a mother who was asking for prayers for a little girl from Bulgaria who at the age of 12 weighed only 12 pounds. How is that even possible? How can we, with all the wealth we have in this country, let this happen to children?
I know that I have seen the ads and pictures on tv before and I have thought what can I possibly do? But then I went back to my own little world. It wasn’t until I unwrapped my little girl and boy from their bundles of clothing and saw their malnourished bodies that I grasped what it really meant to be starving – both for affection and food. I cried that night and I have cried on many nights since then because of what they endured. Sometimes I can hardly stand the thought that Maisey lay there for 6 1/2 months before she was brought to the Hills. 6 1/2 months of crying because she was hungry. 6 pounds at 6 months. It boggles my mind. Was she even able to cry any more? Did she stop crying because she learned that it didn’t matter? Or Ben who didn’t talk at all when we got him. When he finally talked he sounded like he hadn’t used his vocal cords in a very long time. Did he just give up? Why did they hold on for so long? Why am I lucky enough to get to hold them now. Why am I so blessed as to be able to be loved by these two sweet babies? Why did everything work out for them when it doesn’t for so many others?
If you believe in God, you can’t turn your back on this problem. If you believe in the Bible where it is stated over and over again to take care of the widow and the orphan, you can’t just walk away. If you know there are ways you can help, it is wrong to turn away. As Russell Moore says in the above mentioned book, “Adoption isn’t charity – it’s war.” It’s war because Satan wants us to do nothing or to feel so overwhelmed we think there is nothing we can do. That is why you will hear me say over and over again to look at New Hope Foundation or Show Hope or Love Without Boundaries or any of the many other wonderful organizations. I mention those 3 specifically because I have dealt with them personally and believe in their missions. These organizations are sponsoring families and children in a way that is amazing. They sponsor adoptions, surgeries, nannies, babies in orphanages and more. You can see where your money goes. A friend of ours recently sent money to help a child with a surgery in our families name. Love Without Boundaries in turn sent us that child’s picture and prognosis after surgery. Tangible gifts. I know not everyone is called to adopt. But we are all called to help in any way that we can. I have to say it again. If you are reading this, please pray and consider what you can do. Matthew 25:40 (KJV) And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
There are 147 million orphans some say the number is as high as 163 million. You alone can’t help them all, but you can help one. You can make one child’s life better. You can help feed one child, clothe one child, help pay for one child’s surgery. You can make a difference to one child. It’s the story of the little girl and the starfish….
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement. She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one!”
Make a difference for one today! You won’t regret whatever you do for the least of these. I guarantee it! 🙂
