Sunday, November 3, 2013

Imagine...

Imagine...

Being a child. A child here in the United States. A child in Russia. A child in Peru. A child in Africa.

Your parents are too interested in drugs than you. Or you lost your mom to AIDS. Or maybe your father abandoned you on the side of the road...

You're living in a foster home, being moved here and there. You're in an orphanage, lonely with very little food, no clothes of your own and no one to tuck you in each night saying "I love you son." or "I love you daughter." Or perhaps, you're living with a grandma or an aunt who is so sick they can barely care for you and the rest of your extended family. You're sleeping on the cold dirt floor of a hut smaller than the average American bathroom, and you're lucky to share a single piece of bread for your one meal of the day with your 10 family members, one night away from being put into an orphanage.

Each night you pray. Pray for a family. Pray for a mom. A dad. ANYONE who is willing to care for you and more specifically to LOVE you. You pray to hear the words "You are my child. I love you."

If you can't imagine yourself in that situation, maybe instead, if you have a child, think of them. Think of them in one of those situations. Does it NOT break your heart? Does it not just about bring you to tears thinking of your sweet, precious little one literally starving, sleeping on the dirt floor, feeling completely hopeless, but begging God for a family and for someone to love them?

It breaks my heart (and breaks my heart that I have a son who did that everyday for 3 long years). And what breaks my heart even more is that there are literally MILLIONS of children worldwide in situations like these. They estimate anywhere from 147,000,000 to 210,000,000 orphans are in the world. This is NOT okay.

Today is Orphan Sunday. Many churches and organizations are using this day to spread awareness. Awareness of foster care, orphan sponsorship, and adoption.

"We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real until you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes." -David Platt

Today I want to make you aware of not just orphans in general but one specific orphan...



The sweet little one on the left? Her name is Brenda. She is a beautiful 7 year old little girl from Africa who was recently adopted by some super sweet friends of ours, The Smith Family.  While they were in country, they found out Brenda had a brother. They met him. They came home with Brenda and God continued stirring in their hearts and they knew they couldn't leave this sweet boy alone and that God wanted Brenda and and her brother to be together. In the same family. So just a few months after bringing Brenda home, they started the process all over again of bringing him home.

His name is Joseph. His birthday is in just about a month, on December 4. He will be 11.

Adoption is not cheap. Not to mention completing TWO adoptions so close together? AND in order to adopt him, they had to add on an addition to their house. Needless to say, they have paid THOUSANDS to bring these two orphans home so they could be orphans no longer! The only thing is, they are in need of some funds as the process is going quicker than expected. They need an extra $3500 to bring him home. And they need it QUICKLY.

Today, in honor of Orphan Sunday, would YOU be willing to bring Joseph home to his forever family by giving a (tax deductible) donation to the Smith's? Maybe you could give $11 to help celebrate his 11th birthday! Maybe you can give up a $5 coffee for today and donate $5. Or maybe you could even give $20! Either way, ANY amount will help!

Please help the Smith's by giving here:

http://projecthopeful.org/matched-families/smith-family/

And PLEASE share and spread the word! Maybe we can help them be FULLY funded TODAY on Orphan Sunday!!!

Our newest family member!

Sorry for the huge delay in posts! Things have been a tad bit crazy as the newest addition to our family arrived 6 weeks early!


She was born on October 8, 2013 weighing 4lb. 8oz and was 18.5in long!



She stayed in the NICU for 10 days before she FINALLY got to come home!

'

Mireya Esther



Our family is SO blessed to have this sweet miracle! The kids love having a baby sister and Michael and I are thoroughly enjoying having a tiny little baby again! God is SO good!!