Adoption

I was only a little girl when my Uncle Steve would tell us stories of his adventures working with Open Doors. (If you're not familiar with this organization, I encourage you to read up on Brother Andrew.) I would sit with big eyes and listen very attentively as he would use humor to describe their trips. I can still see his eyes sparkle as he told us how God had been with them. Uncle Steve and Aunt Bonnie would smuggle Bibles into "closed" countries and the stories they told were amazing. Miraculous even. God was really by their sides. But, I will save the stories for another time.

I guess it was during one of these story tellings that I developed a love for the Chinese. I begged Uncle Steve to one day take me with him so I could see the orphanages. He smiled and said, "Start saving your pennies." Well, like any child, I took that quite literally and started collecting pennies. When I finally decided to give up, I think I cashed in over $10 in pennies. Anyway, I always dreamed of going. I even went as far as to think of maybe moving over there and running an orphanage, or at least adopting a child or two.

Uncle Steve died several years ago, and with the passing of time, so did my dream of going to China. I may never step foot over there, I may never go to one of the orphanges and claim one of the children as my own. Even as I write this, tears come to my eyes. Dreams don't always come true, but God has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams with 4 of my own precious children and a loving husband.

No, it may never happen for us, but I do have a friend (and her husband) who are in the process of an international adoption. While I don't know what country they are focusing on, I do know their hearts long for this to be a speedy and smooth process. Check out her website: http://mywildtree.com/charitynix and see if you can help out. I know I plan on placing an order soon. :)

God tells us to care for the orphans and widows. He loves these children! Maybe God will use you to help this loving family adopt one of His children. Even if you can't help with the financial end of it, we can all pray and that is the best thing we can do.