Thursday, February 10, 2011

Adopted for Life

A few weeks ago, I was placing an order from Amazon. A dear friend and I try to save on shipping so she asked me to add ADOPTED FOR LIFE for her. As I read the summary, I was intrigued so I added one to my cart for me. Oh, I am so glad I did! It has been an incredible read. This is what I read this morning:

Think of the plight of the orphan somewhere right now out there in the world. It's not just that she's lonely. It's that she has no inheritance, no future. With every passing year, she's less "cute", less adoptable. In just a few years, on her eighteenth birthday (or 16th), she'll be expelled from the orphanage or from "the system". What will happen to her then? Maybe she'll join the military or find some job training. Maybe she'll stare at a tile on the ceiling above her as her body is violated by a man who's willing to pay her enough to eat for a day, alone in a back alley or in front of a camera crew of strangers. Maybe she'll place a revolver in her mouth or tie a rope around her neck, knowing no one will have to deal with her except, once again, the bureaucratic "authorities" who can clean up the mess she leaves behind. Can you feel the force of such desperation? Jesus can. She's his little sister.

Then my thoughts went to this could have been my daughter. What if my daughter faced this life? Look what I would have missed out on.


And hearing her say, "I love you, Mommy!" about a hundred times a day. I will never grow tired of those sweet words...

Or we would have missed the love these two have for one another. It is amazing, pure, and full of Jesus!

Everyone is called to recognize Jesus in the face of his little brothers and sisters when he decides to show up in their lives, even if it interrupts everything else.

I want to be interrupted for these little faces, these faces that NEED HIM.

2 comments:

Hillbilly Rockin' Robin said...

Reid's been listening to the audio book. He said it is wonderful! Thanks for today. Helped to believe this day is coming!

Tonya said...

Hi! My name is Tonya. My husband and I are in the process of adopting from Ghana, and we have run into quite a few snags. I met your friend Deb at the Project HOPEFUL Parent Forum in Chicago this weekend, and she said you'd be a good person to talk to as we consider where to go from here. I'd love to chat if you're willing. You can email me at tonya (dot) wike (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks!