ADOPTION AWARENESS MONTH

Were you aware that November is Adoption Awareness month?? Oh my, how special this is to me. If it were not for adoption, I would not have 3 of my own 4 precious treasures. God has blessed me with the best of both worlds. For this I am truely grateful. But I must say, the adoptions of Casey, Cole and Gabe were the most God felt experiences in my life. God had the perfect plan for placing these kiddos in my life. Each one of them from 3 different decades (man, that makes me sound old!), three different countries, 3 little lives lovingly placed in my care by the Master plan maker. I just love the way He takes our broken hearts and shattered dreams, all our excuses, our fears and shortcomings, and then turns them into miracles. Wow, how awesome is our God!

Every child deserves a home filled with love and affection. Every child deserves a family who will love them unconditionally and always be there to meet their needs. Every child deserves this....period. There are millions of kiddos all over the world who do not have this. And I believe that we, as christians, have a responsibility to do something. I recently read this, " According to Voice of the Orphan, an outreach of FamilyLife Today, 143 million children worldwide have lost one or both parents, and at least 16.2 million children worldwide have lost both parents. Closer to home, more than 800,000 children pass through America’s foster care system each year. On average, children waiting for adoption have been in foster care for 43.8 months, almost four years. More than one-third of Americans have seriously considered adopting, but no more than 2 percent have followed through."  Only TWO percent.  If others had just an inclinging of the blessings that come from adoption.....well, it would be more than 2 percent. I know some may say there are a million excuses NOT to adopt. But if we ask ourselves.....What would God say to do???.....IT IS QUITE CLEAR. It really is that simple. As humans, we are going to worry about this and that and what ifs and what nots.....but if we just give God our YES......HE takes care of us to see HIS WILL DONE, to the end.  Now that doesn't mean it will all go smoothly, and that there will be no fears or doubts, or tears. But it does mean that when we do the will of God, He gives us EVERYTHING we need to see it through. And on the journey, He teaches us, and He makes himself visible so, so many times. OMGosh, He shows up in the darnest places, at the darnest times!!! And believe me.....you know without doubt....it is Him.  Tears are rolling down my face just thinking about how many times He revealed himself to me during our adoptions. God's heart is for the orphan.
This time last year, my heart was so heavy for these precious kids.  I knew what the Lord was asking me to do. He set things in motion back in Jan. of 2010. Let me tell ya......from Jan. 2010 to Jan. 2011.....it was a looonnnnggg emotional stretch. When God is dealing with you on a day to day basis and you know what it is your suppose to do, but the worldly things don't line up with God's heart and yours and people in your life don't understand.....well, it's just plain hard. BUT, I have come to realize, its all just part of the MASTER'S PLAN.  He used that year to continue my spiritually growth, as well as my husbands. He used that time to stir some hearts of others as well. He(the Lord...just making sure your still with me!) started it with a nudge to help the orphans in Haiti and then Africa, and then revealed, without doubt, the plight of special needs orphans in Eastern Europe. It became quite clear through this time, His time, that this is where I was suppose to be. I had to wait alittle longer than I wanted (while He shook Rick up alittle!lol) but a couple months later, Rick and I, found ourselves on a plane headed across that big ole ocean, to meet our new son for the first time. Into a world of unknowns......but with a GOD WHO KNOWS ALL leading the way. If you could be in our home right now, and see the joy and love this little guy gives......you would be booking a flight to EE too! All God needs is a willing heart to say "YES". He will take that yes, and put you right where you are suppose to be. It will be the journey of a life time and you will wonder why you waited so long to do it.
God is so clear about what to do about the millions of little ones who need families. If adoption is too much to ask of you, then there are other ways to help them or to help another family who is willing to give them a home and family. Please, please go to Reece's Rainbow, and look at their website.  There are many ways to help these kiddos. Look at their precious faces. Read about them and how you can help. Old or young, poor or wealthy, extremely busy or with alot of time on your hands, there is a way to help these kids. Give God your YES, and this time next year......you could be writing this instead of me! May God bless you with a heart that breaks over the things that break His and may you take that heart and run as fast as you can into His loving arms and say, "YES LORD, HERE I AM.....SEND ME." He can, and He will!!