Why Adopt???

My heart has been longing for Ethiopia and the orphans we left behind. Each one a precious child of God. Each one in desperate need of a family and a home. I found an awesome God-loving women's blog this week and I've been lost in her stories of adoption. She's a 50 year old women who has heard God's call and answered Him time and time again-against insurmountable odds at times, regardless of what others may think. She and her husband are living out the gospel, and I have found much wisdom in her postings.

I had an appointment this afternoon, so in a brief moment of solitude as I waited in the waiting room, I had a chance to read a magazine article. It was in some financial magazine and the title was something like "The Net Return of Children". Basically it was analyzing the "value" of having children today-what is the return on our investment. The conclusion was that Americans are actually choosing not to have children-or not as many (especially wealthier Americans) because it is a poor financial investment (with private school, piano lessons, swim team, birthday parties that require party planners, wardrobe trends to keep up with and other "must haves"...parents are financially strapped trying to provide a "proper" upbringing).

This, I think is a big part of the problem. Our society has placed false value on the lives of our children. We are expected to enroll them in the preschool with the wait list. Give them all of the "stuff" that we wanted as a kid, but may not have had. Make sure they are "well rounded" (ie. play violin, be captain of the soccer team, and run for prom queen all while taking physics and calculus classes-all to measure our success as parents). Provide them with a "better" life. BETTER LIFE. What is that???? Well, for the orphan-a better life is a home with a family that vows to provide what they will never have in an orphanage, group home or care center. To provide them with LOVE and HOPE.

Our agency sent a list of "waiting children" this week and it just breaks my heart. Some of the kids have been on the list since at least September when we first saw our girls. They were on that list and praise GOD, we found them. As I write this, they sleep snug in their warm little beds, hopefully knowing that they are LOVED, not only by us, but also by our gracious God. They have hope and a future now.

The following passage was taken from "A place called simplicity" http://www.aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/. Check it out for more amazing insight on God's heart for the orphan and His call to all Christians. These are her answers to some of the reasons people give not to adopt (I've added a few comments in red):

Some say, “I don’t really have time.” Who does???Almighty God, the defender of orphans and widows says, “You don’t have time? Time for what? The things you deem “important”? I have told you what really matters – Caring for the orphans and widows!! How much clearer do I need to make it?”

Some say, “But we can’t afford it right now.” Neither could we-GOD provided!! Almighty God says, “You can’t afford not to! Watch me provide – you will be amazed!!” We were amazed!

Some say, “But I already have these kids and they are driving me crazy.” Almighty God says, “Stop using the world’s value system when it comes to kids! Their worth is beyond words – cherish them and bring more home!”

Some say, “But I need to spend time with the ones I do have”. Almighty God says, “Yes you do!! Stop wasting your time on all the things that don’t really matter and spend time with them (This is my new mantra)– and teach them about selflessness by bringing home brothers and sisters for them….in fact teach them about sharing first hand! Teach them about caring for others first hand!!”

You might say, “My husband doesn’t want anymore.” Almighty God says, “Fast and pray for your husband’s heart to change – I am a big God and it certainly lines up with my will – fast, pray and watch and see what I do!!”

I think she says it so well. We can all make excuses. The bottom line is that we all can do something. We all have room and we can all choose to make a difference.

I say this tonight after a miserable showing as a patient mother. My little Meron missed her nap today and whined and fussed from 4:00pm-bedtime. Caroline chimed in from time to time with her own whines and needs and Colton threw a tantrum because he didn't get the snack he wanted-all while I was trying to make dinner. I failed miserably at being patient and loving and kind. Which is a little ironic because I've been teaching them 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (Love is patient, love is kind...it is not easily angered...) all month. The good news is, it's not about us. We are never going to have it all together enough to take on God's challenges. That's why we need HIM. We are never going to have enough time, money, patience, organization, or energy to do it all. But we need to have enough humility to recognize this and give it to the Lord. When God calls you to do something, you DO IT.

As defeated as I felt after finally getting my little ones to sleep tonight, the devil will not win this one. He will not stop me from spreading the word. I'm going to get the message out. The plight of the orphan is my life calling. The devil hates it. He'd love for us all to get distracted enough that we allow it to be OK that children go to sleep hungry, homeless, and hopeless every night.

In the words of Mother Theresa, "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die, so that you may live as you wish."

Defending the fatherless,

Jessica

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

These two pictures speak volumes about our two girls. I had asked Hermela to sort all of our teddy bear counters one day in school while I did Caleb's reading lesson. This is what I came back to. Every bear was perfectly lined up according to its color. When she came home, just 3 months ago, she had never had a day of formal schooling. We had planned to start kindergarten with her in August to give her time to adjust here and just focus on the English language. However, we could tell how bright she was when she got here and we decided to start homeschooling her for kindergarten in February. Since then, she recognizes most letters and knows most of their sounds, can count to 100, knows most colors, recognizes numbers, knows days of the week, can copy sentences, writes her full name.....I could go on and on. The girl is amazing. I say all of this not to brag on our teaching skills-Nick and I are hardly experts, but to brag instead on her determination and drive. She is the most driven 5 year old I have ever met. She came to us speaking both Amharic and Tigriniya. She is now quickly adding English to her language list. She soaks up everything we say and even repeats my words as I am teaching lessons or reading books (a trait that is slightly annoying-but is definitely working for her). She is now asking me to teach her to read. She sees Caleb reading books and wants to do the same, so we will start reading lessons in a couple of weeks. I have no doubt that she will be ready for first grade in the fall.

Meron is also soaking up the English language at a remarkable pace. I really think it helps that they have the other kids around them-constantly talking. If it were only me and Nick, I think it might have been different. In a house with 5 kids, someone is always talking, so they have total immersion all day long. While Hermela is really working hard to assimilate and learn new things, Meron is content to "hang out". She definitely takes her role as the youngest child seriously (we now have two youngest children which could get interesting down the road). She is perfectly content to be by my side or attached to me. She has very little drive in the way of work and would much prefer things be done for her. She plays the baby role quite a bit and has even acquired a pacifier since she's been home. Not something we planned on, but we're just going with it (whatever keeps the peace around here).

They have both grown by leaps and bounds since they've been home. We took them swimming in a "big" pool (community in ground pool as opposed to our backyard blow up pool) this afternoon. They had a blast floating through the water (with swimmies) and kicking and splashing around. I couldn't help but marvel at them. Here they were-first time in the deep end-jumping right in. It's kind of a metaphor for how they have approached their new life with us. They have jumped right in and seem to be enjoying every minute of it.

Beach Trip

We went to the beach for the day over spring break. One of the pictures that we had sent the girls was of Nick and me at the beach. Hermela had looked and looked at it and when she met us she said, "mommy, this one" and pointed to the picture. She had brought it to me several times and asked to go see the beach. We decided to go when Nick's parents were here (logistically, we needed a few extra hands-Colton requires the full attention of an adult around water due to his lack of inhibition-and we had two non-swimmers and beach first timers-you get the picture). I decided that the 4:5 adult to kid ratio worked well and that we will probably require at least one extra adult chaperon for a while when swimming is involved.

I had expected Hermela to be fearful of the water as she squirms and shakes all around when I spray her hair with water. However, my parents had gotten them a blowup pool for Easter and she jumped right in. I was especially surprised when she dove right under, holding her breath like a pro. The ocean was no different. She rode a boogie board right away and stayed in the FREEZING cold water longer than anyone else. Meron kept to the sand and they both enjoyed being buried in it. I'm sure Hermela will be swimming on her own by the end of the summer. She is a very motivated and determined little girl.