YOU can make a difference

Whatever your calling or talents are, God can use you in the care of orphans. Here is a perfect example:

Celebrating Adoption is an organization that networks photographers all over the country. These photographers give of their time and talents to adoptive families. They provide a free photo session and proofs to an adoptive family to document their new family member. What a neat idea! So if you think that you can’t make a difference, think again. :)

Great Minds Think Alike--- www.timetoadopt.com

I am amazed at this great big world of adoption out there, that I knew nothing about until we started our adoption process. When the adoption bug bit me, I thought I was the only one that felt this passionately about orphans (except for the weirdoes). :) I of course researched the internet for months before we committed to the mountain of paperwork that the legal world requires. But I spent most of my time researching facts both of the world and of the Bible. I didn’t delve into the realm of personal stories and testimonies. That began during the eternity of waiting for our son.

During this trial of waiting, I have discovered soooooo many wonderful Christian families called to adopt. They too have the burning passion to not only follow God’s call on their lives to adopt, but to spread the word about the orphan need in the world and the wonderful picture of God’s love through adoption. The more I read, the more my heart aches to keep on spreading the word. And I think one of the ways that this message can be shared, is to point you to the amazing personal stories I come across. So I will be periodically adding links to other adoption journeys that I find.

One of my current favorite sites belongs to a family adopting from Haiti as well. She made an entire site that outlines the aspects of adoption that so many people are curious about. When I read her site, I kept saying, “Yes, Yes, exactly what I want to say!” I have been attempting to use this adoption board to do what she so concisely outlined on her site. So I am pointing you to her. www.timetoadopt.com

I will continue my feeble attempt to spread the word about orphans and adoption. But please don’t compare! :)

(This site no longer exists, but I wanted to add this post for posterity sake.)

Is there any hope?

Sometimes when we think about massive problems, we tend to think, “What would one tiny action accomplish? How can my small act make a dent in this huge epidemic?”

After putting all the statistics about the world’s orphans on this website, it seems rather bleak. It makes you feel defeated. But I love the encouragement on the Shaohannah’s Hope site:

Is there any hope?
* Yes. There is One who infinitely loves each orphan and calls His people to join Him in caring for the fatherless. Each one of us can Show Hope to an orphan.
If only 7% of the 2 billion Christians in the world would show hope to a single orphan, looking after the child in their distress, there would effectively be no more orphans. We can each do something.


I love how they word that! First, there is always hope because God cares about the problem. And then secondly, Christians CAN make a difference. And they didn’t act like everyone had to adopt an orphan. Looking after a child in their distress could mean many things: help pay for someone else to adopt, help fight hunger and disease that in effect make orphans, etc.


So, will you be a part of the HOPE?!?

How my passion was ignited

I guess the purpose of this blog is to give me an outlet to express my ideas and thoughts about orphans and adoption. This new found passion was actually brought on by the process of bringing our son home from Haiti. Throughout his adoption, I researched the internet, read books, attended seminars, and studied the Bible. There was so much out there about orphans and adoption. This was a new world to me. How could I have missed this? After hundreds of hours of pouring over all this information out there, I had a new perspective on life. Now that is a big statement, but it is true.

I was self-centered and only focused on what I could get out of life. Now don’t get me wrong, I wanted to love on people and spread the gospel, but only on my terms. And I wasn’t excited about it. I would get so excited watching Andy gear up for each new college year. He always had this drive and joy about his job. I am so proud of him for this faithfulness over the years. He truly loves serving and teaching these wonderful college students. He is willing to get his hands dirty and work outside the 9-5 office hours. Every year his ministry improves and grows because he has sparked this excitement in other people too. That is ministry. So where was mine?

And then came Bo. I guess I am a slow learner, because this has been a long process for me. Andy and I had always talked about adopting someday. Don’t ask me why, but we both felt like that was what we were supposed to do. Well, actually I can tell you why--God made us that way. So to make a long story short, we started the adoption process last summer. When we received the referral of Bo, my heart ached for him. I didn’t know if I could make it 9-12 months like they estimated. What could I do to speed things up? So I started all the research that I talked about earlier. And in that waiting time, I developed a strong passion for ministering to the orphans of the world. Here was my ministry!

Thank you God for giving this to me. It has made such a difference in my life over the past year. I know I am still selfish, but at least I recognize it now. I know I am still lazy, but I have spurts of unabandoned hard hitting direction. I have learned so much about orphan ministry that I want to share it with everyone I meet. Hence, now you get the pleasure of reading this blog!

So in a way God used Bo to save my life. Now that is dramatic! (And not really theologically correct) But I guess I am trying to convey that I get what God wants me to do right now. And that is a great feeling!