Getting Un-STUCK

My husband and I attended the documentary STUCK last night. This film is touring the nation on its way to Wash. D.C. as a way to bring awareness of all the orphans who are Stuck in orphanages around the world due to government bureaucracy, and misconceptions about orphans and the process. Having adopted from China, which is one of the better programs, I am amazed at how long the process takes in some countries. The average wait for a child is 33 months. These are the most formative years of a child and they are being neglected.

I was shocked to hear that international adoptions have declined by 60% in the last ten years. This is amazing since there are over Ten Million orphans in the world. We need to put pressure on our legislatures to make the process void of red tape in this country. For example, is it really necessary to have a couple fingerprinted by their local police, the state police and the FBI? And once done, why must it be updated if a couple decides to adopt an additional child?

I was also shocked to learn some of what UNICEF is doing. Just as in our poorly run foster care system, children who could be adopted are waiting because someone mistakenly believes that it is better for the child to remain where they are in hopes that they can stay in their environment. They are advocating that there should be domestic adoption or foster care systems in some of the poorest countries in the world. I'm sorry, but foster care is not a permanent place; it is transitory, and while domestic adoptions would be great, it just doesn't happen.

How does all this information effect Be The One? Well, it makes our advocacy more urgent.
Please consider joining us by praying and donating; helping one more family bring one more child into their forever family.

God is Moving

    I had a great week-end in which I celebrated the birth of two of my sons and my mother's 80th birthday. During this time, God showed me that he wants me to get out and speak to groups about his heart for adoption. I had been stressing about fundraising ideas and realized that I just need to share my story and encourage those God is calling to adopt. It is amazing how when we get on the right path, things get moving.

      So, if your church, women's group, prayer group or any other group you can think of is interested in hearing about the process of adoption or how they can support others who are adopting, I would love to talk to them. Let's start the conversation!

Is Adoption Difficult?

IS ADOPTION DIFFICULT?

When someone asks me if the process of adoption is difficult I say:

No, as long as you don’t mind filling out the same piece of paperwork six times.

No, as long as you don’t mind strangers coming into your home eying your dying plants strangely.

No, as long as you don’t mind routinely mailing your social security number and gross income to anyone who happens to ask for it.

No, as long as you don’t mind having your fingerprints taken by your local police, state police and very friendly federal agents.

No, as long as you don’t mind acquaintances and family asking you strange questions like, “what if he doesn’t want to be adopted?”

No, as long as you don’t mind a caseworker measuring your rooms to see if you have room for 1 more child.

No, as long as you don’t mind writing a 10 page autobiography on your “not so perfect” childhood and your weird relations.

No, as long as you don’t mind a child’s face falling when he realizes he is not on a sleepover.

No, as long as you don’t mind not being able to grocery shop without getting a babysitter and calling it a date.

No, as long as you don’t mind packing scabies medicine and vowing not to eat fresh fruit and vegetables for 2 weeks

            Adoption may not be easy, but it is worth it.

Only a Few Days Left!

   

  There are only a few days left in our 1st fundraiser. If you haven't yet given a donation, will you please consider sending $1.00 for Be The One. 100% of funds received will be given to a family in the process of adopting a child. For those of you who home-school and donate, I'll enter you into a drawing for a years subscription to This Old Schoolhouse. To be eligible, send your donation by April 15th and indicate that you would like to be entered.

     "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Learning to Serve

          This day, this week, God is trying to once again teach me what it means to serve.

In John chapter 13, Jesus tells his disciples, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean." And then he washed their feet. He was telling them that they were clean (saved) and yet something more was required. They were being told to wash one another's feet. In fact, Jesus told them they would be blessed if they did these things. This conversation wasn't really all about feet. It was about serving. There is something tempting about accepting Jesus' sacrifice and believing nothing more is required of us. Of course we can't add anything to His sacrifice to gain our salvation, but once we are saved, he expects us to do what he did: Selfless Sacrifice and Service.

I realize that I may be good at serving others who I know will appreciate my efforts, but I am terrible at serving those who don't notice or who take it for granted and feel they deserve it. Yet, Jesus washed the feet of all of his disciples, even Judas who would betray him. We are not asked to serve who we want to, how we want to, or even when we feel like it. Often our service is to people who are difficult, in ways that are unrewarding, and at times that are inconvenient.

I feel called to advocate for the orphans of this world, but that doesn't mean it will be easy. It may be my passion, but it is hard. Raising children, disciplining new believers, training co-workers all require laying down your life in order to improve someone else's. Serving the world takes sacrifice - daily. Let us go about it joyfully so that we can share our master's happiness.

BE THE ONE

always hopes, always perseveres

     What does it take to persevere when day after day things don't get better? What about when instead of getting better they get tougher? There is only one thing that will help you through times like this and that is hope. If faith is the ability to see what others can't, than hope is the ability to see the future that others won't. Many can look at a child in need and feel empathy, some will give money, some will pray, but who will look forward to what plans God has for this child and act according to what they see in the future?
     I often wonder why God wants to use me when I mess up so often. Of course it has nothing to do with me. God uses the weak so that his power and grace shine. I see now that within my hard days, there is a greater purpose. I tell my kids that if something is worth having, it is worth working for. Likewise if something is worth hoping for, it is worth persevering for. Love Never Fails.

             Be The One

..... always trusts

     Trust is the ability to believe that what someone says will happen, will, or what someone tells you is true, is. When a child trusts their parents, they will do things that don't make sense to them simply because someone they love told them to. Have you ever seen a parent at the bottom of a slide coaxing their child, "come on, you won't fall?" It is the same with us and God. If we trust God, we believe that he loves us and will only do what is best for us. This allows us to go ahead and do things that don't seem safe to us.
     When God showed us our 6th child, he was living in China: a six year old boy labeled with epilepsy. I knew immediately that this was the child God meant for our son. I also knew that as soon as we said yes all the questions would start: people wondering whether it was smart adopting a boy that old, with a diagnosis we had never experienced. We were cautioned to thoroughly look into the agency and many shared the horror stories they knew of others who had tried to adopt an older child and failed. Yet, it didn't matter what I thought might happen, I had to trust that God knew what would happen. It also was irrelevant that this child was half way around the world. I knew that God loved us and this boy and I could trust Him to bring it to completion. It didn't have to be a good idea, it was a God idea.

                                     Be The One