Seeing Beyond Ourselves

Everyone has a God given passion.

Something that moves you, 

motivates you, 

keeps you up at night.  

You do not have to be around me very long to know my heart...

and my passion!

God has broken my heart for children.

 ALL children.  

When I interact with children my face lights up

there is a bounce in my step

my voice turns musical

and my face has a ready smile.

Mix that love with the truth of children experiencing 

neglect, abuse, abandonment, institutionalization, hunger, and fear...

The recipe yields a mama bear of a woman driven to share the truth,

and advocate for children that cannot speak for themselves.  

I will not apologize for my passion,

or my one track conversations.

I have worked with beautiful treasures from our foster care system,

hugged on treasures from our son's previous orphanage,

and looked upon the hollow faces of street children 

living on a square of cardboard in a third world country.

I have prayed over children on photolists from the US and all over the world.

We adopted a six year old domestically,

a 12 year old internationally, 

and took in a pregnant teen during a time of crisis.

And we are chomping at the bit to jump back in the saddle and adopt again!!

Why...

BECAUSE THEY HAVE VALUE, WORTH, AND ARE PRICELESS TREASURES!!

BECAUSE GOD MADE THEM TO HAVE A HOPE AND A FUTURE!!

BECAUSE ONCE YOU KNOW THE TRUTH, 

YOU CAN NO LONGER PRETEND IT DOES NOT EXIST.  

Friends,

Adoption is not for everyone.

BUT

There are some of you out there that are called to adopt

And you have given every excuse in the book. 

Some of you would rather not be stretched out of your comfort zone.

Some feel like the hoops that you have to jump through are just too large and far apart.

Some hide behind the fear of coming up with the fees associated with adoption, 

or how your lifestyle may change if you add more children to the family.   

And some of you are terrified of a past that a child may have experienced before coming to your family.

I am not judging you...

but from someone who was sitting on that side of the fence not so long ago,

I want to tell you that 

God does not call His children to easy.

(We can do easy on our own.  

He calls us to things that without HIS intervention...we will fail)

God extends peace, grace, and redemption.

(regardless of our past)

And where HE guides....HE provides!!!

Do not get me wrong...

I am not implying that adoption is a romantic airport photo experience every moment of the day.  Parenting is hard, whether a child came from your stomach or your heart.  

What I am saying is that we have no regrets to opening our hearts to God's will for our family!!

We have stretched, grown, and relied on Christ in ways we may never have experienced had we not been obedient to the call.  

I am saying that God created each child for a fabulous plan and purpose...

and all were made to be treasured and loved by a family.  

I pray that our family photo will grow by many more smiling faces in the years to come.

But I also pray that God will raise up a people who will confidently walk in obedience.

You may be the person to send funding to a child care facility.  

You may be the one to help families fund their adoption.

You may be one who goes on short term mission trips to care for orphans and street children.

You may be called to full time missions.

You may be called to open your heart and family to treasures by way of adoption.

Or you may be called to more than one of these things:)

You may be the mama to... 

-a sibling group of three boys from the Philippines (twin 15 yr and a 13 yr), 

a 12 year old boy with a gentle sweet spirit that I was privileged to meet,

or one of the other 124 currently on the Philippines special home finder's list

(the list is comprised of older children or those with special needs).

- 10 year old Rahiem from NC or one of the other 131 in this state alone. 

(104,000 across the United States)

- Little Shayla from Asia or one of the other 1,841 children listed on RainbowKids.com

The latest number I heard was 63,000,000 children around the world

 in need of a forever family.  

If you have made it this far in the post, and can't shake the feeling 

that God has placed adoption on your heart...

then friend, it is time to go to your knees and pray for God to show you where to begin!!

I promise it will not be easy, 

but oh it will be life changing for you, your family, that special treasure, and everyone around you!!