Adoption month winding down

It's the last day of National Adoption Month, but for our family, advocating for orphans to find homes is ongoing.

E, J, and K and I are reading some great books as part of our Sonlight Core 7. Several of these books have talked about the slave trade. As we read these books, my kids ask, "How could these men have called themselves Christians and acted this way to another human being?" In his book, Radical, David Platt says, (and I'm completely paraphrasing here) that as we look back at the slave trade and ask these questions, Christians 100 years from now will look back at our own time and ask how we stood by and did nothing for the widow, the orphan, those living in extreme poverty, while (now these are my words) we go Black Friday shopping at all hours of the night to get the latest and greatest techie gadget.

I have to admit, I'm really struggling with my own consumerism, especially in the light of what I KNOW to exist in other parts of the world- parents sending their 3-4 year old boys out to tend sheep all day to earn enough money to help feed their families (my son, Gavin had to do this). Not having medical care for malaria, parents die and their children get sent to an orphanage, where they might live for years before finding a forever family or might be put out on the street when they "age out" of the system in most countries (usually around 12 years old). Children with HIV are ostracized in their communities FOR NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN. Without medical intervention, they will die. IF they make it to a family in a developed country, they have a chance at a FULL, HEALTHY LIFE.

I struggle with having incredible medical insurance when orphans in Eastern Europe with certain conditions are sent to live their entire lives in "institutions" where they won't get any personal touch, love or hope. Children with cerebral palsy won't be able to get out of bed each day.

Another point in the book Radical that I love is: When Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul and love your neighbor as yourself." He wasn't just talking to a select few. He was talking to all of us. The Bible doesn't say that for a few people, "Religion that is pure and blameless is this go to widows and orphans in their distress."

I pray that my words don't fall on deaf ears, that they are the spark that lights a flame of advocacy for orphans and adoption in other people. I pray that Christians will learn to LIVE their faith everyday to those around them, whether in their communities or in other parts of the world.

Please go back to my friend, Dale's posts about his trip to Ethiopia last week. Look at the pictures, see the kids' faces. Now imagine your OWN (this term gets my goat because some refer to my adopted kids as not my own) kids and try to envision them living in these same conditions. Adoption may not be the answer to all kids, but it CERTAINLY is the answer that so many children need. There are 147 million orphans in the world. There are 147 MILLION children hoping for a Mommy and Daddy to tuck them in at night, to hold them when they're scared, to sing them songs, to help guide them into adulthood.