Ranting, Reading, Rocking Out

This week I've been working on trying to get some local churches - including our own - on board for Orphan Sunday on November 8th. My initial overtures were not embraced with the enthusiasm for which I had hoped. I was basically told "That's nice but we have lots of other things going on right now and we don't have room in our schedules to include this too even though this is a good cause." I wrote a scathing post earlier in the week that I thankfully didn't publish. (To be fair, the Children's Director at our church did get involved later to try and push the issue forward). Here is some of the tamer content from the post I didn't publish:

I'm not even sure how to process this but I feel pretty crushed and defeated by what has happened thus far. There are a few other leads I can pursue but I am questioning right now if I even want to do that. I recognize that God needs people with all kinds of passions and gifts in the church in order to do the work that is close to His heart. It's challenging - and frustrating - to realize that not everyone shares the passion you live and breathe for. My passion is not solving the problem of homelessness. I think it's an important issue that needs to be addressed, but it's not my passion. It's hard to recognize that many feel that way about orphans. They see them as just another agenda item. In my mind, I have a hard time - particularly having seen how desperate the situation is in Africa - seeing how some of the "other things" going on in churches today are as important as addressing the global orphan crisis. I realize that there are many things that God holds dear and I am not going to presume to speak for God with regard to His hierarchy of importance on issues. However, part of me just wants to scream "This is THE issue of our day and we must not stand silent!" Our church has a deacon in charge of flowers on the altar. Somehow, I just don't see rescuing children as being on par with floral ministry. I don't want to seem arrogant or insensitive so I should probably self-censor a bit more here. I just can't help it. I am fired up! I came away from my interactions today sobered by the reminder of the reality that a lot of people really don't care that much about this issue. They watch CNN and hear about famine and poverty and say "Gee, that's a bummer" and then go about their other Christian business. And children go without families and even die in some parts of the world because we - both the churched and the unchurched - just couldn't be bothered. That's a tough pill to swallow. One thing that this has made me realize is that it may be imperative that we who do feel bothered by this issue do as much as we can because most people aren't doing much at all. I don't say that to be self-righteous (if you read this blog, you know I'm not handing out any parenting awards to myself) but I do say it as a sobering statement on the nature of things. If we who have had our hearts taken captive by this issue don't do something to help these kids, no one else is going to. That's the plain and simple truth. I told Davis tonight we may have to adopt a few more kids simply because we care and not everyone does. This makes our actions all the more necessary and brings a sense of urgency to the decisions I have been contemplating in my own head. Can I urge you that if you find yourself drawn to this issue of orphan relief to pray about doing ALL you can to help these children? For some that means bringing children into their homes as their own. If you don't have children yet, would you pray about beginning your family as we have done through adoption or about integrating adoption into your larger family plan? If you already have children and are possibly considering another child, would you prayerfully consider allowing an adopted child to bless your family rather than having another biological child? If you don't feel called to adopt personally, would you do all you can to help spread the word about these precious children and perhaps even consider supporting an orphan through a group like Children’s HopeChest?



One thing that has become abundantly clear to me throughout our entire adoption experience is that adoption is not the answer to saving kids' lives. Yes, you read that correctly. It is and it isn't. Adoption is a bandaid for much larger, incredibly complex global issues that are only beginning to now be addressed. In an ideal world, the adoptive mother like myself is not needed. I don't say that to be cruel but ideally a child's birthmother will want to and have the ability to raise that child. Unfortunately. in much of the world today this is not the case, often for socioeconomic reasons. As I try to better understand some of the many variables that have compounded to bring about so many orphaned children, I found a few things this week to be instructive. First, NPR (I loooove NPR) ran a story this week about the current state of the AIDS epidemic. There is both good and bad news here. The good news is that there have been strides made in reducing the spread of the disease. The bad news is that in a slumping global economy, impoverished populations in the Third World who often depend of First World generosity may find reduced access to the drugs needed to combat HIV. This is sobering when you consider how many children in sub-Saharan Africa, just like my own, have become orphans because of poverty and disease. Second, today I ordered a book that has been getting a lot of buzz lately called Half the Sky (my beloved NPR talked about this too!). Oprah actually has some great related content about this on her website right now (thanks to the friend who sent this along knowing I don't follow Oprah!). The author of the book suggests that by providing small loans ("microfinance") to women in impoverished countries, you have the potential to greatly impact entire communities for the better. I'm really excited about learning more about this. If I could partner with another woman by lending something as small as $60 and help her to build a business that will allow her to support her family and keep her kids, then I'm all for it. That might mean one less orphan that needs a family. I'll keep you posted on the book. I am showing that I am bit of dreamer by the openly admitting that I am going to attempt to finish a book. That prospect is almost comical right now but I am going to try.

Here are some fun Photo Friday pics. No, we don't just do laundry all the time (actually we do do laundry all the time these days!) but today the empty laundry baskets provided a great deal of amusement to two little girls who pushed them all around the house while rocking out to the Jackson 5 as Mommy tried to get caught up on some work.