On Stories and Waiting Children

So, here's the thing. I like stories. I like real people. I struggle with generalities. When I say there are 143 million orphans in the world, my own mind doesn't compute that. I need faces. I need stories.

I really want to move you. I want to say things that stir you. I want to tell you all that I've been reading and have it come over you like a flood, so that it will change your whole life. I want to tell you the numbers, the facts, the truth about what is happening in our world.

But every time I try, I fall flat. I get preachy and I probably turn you off.

This adoption process is a little bit like that for me. We're putting our ducks in a row, filling out paper work, making phone call, counting our pennies... all for a child out there who is part of that huge number. A child who seems faceless. I think that is one of the reasons that we have been so interested in pursuing a child who is considered a "Waiting Child". These kiddos are a little bit older, have special needs (minor and major) and have not met the requirements of people who are accepted into a program through an agency. To be frank, the "Waiting Child" list is basically a last ditch effort to get these kiddos into a forever home.

Most of you know that we have two biological children with minor special needs. Every single day I look at them and realize that if they had been born somewhere else, it is very likely that they would be Waiting Children.

Are you kidding me?????

My boys are so special. They are so unique. They're hilarious. They have loving hearts and quick minds.  They are the greatest gift God has given me. And they would stand a very good chance of being unwanted had their circumstances been different.

So when I think of 143 million orphans, I think about how far down the list my boys would be, and that makes me absolutely certain that these children are not just statistics looking for someone to take pity on them. They are breathing, brilliant, funny, sweet souls who desperately need to be snuggled and taken to the pediatrician and colored with and tickled and prayed over and read to and fed vegetables and loved every single day.

Please pray for us as we take the next steps necessary to bring a Waiting Child home. This is a one foot in front of the other process and today we took some steps. We're  nervous, we're unsure, we're excited, we're trusting. Pray for the little girl whose story and picture has stolen my heart (and is closing in on Brandon's). We have no idea if she is our daughter, but we know that for some reason, God has lined up some things that sure make it seem like she could be. No matter what, she needs a family. No matter what, we want the very best for her.

We know just a paragraph about her. But that paragraph told a piece of her story. And for me, today, that made all the difference. When I think of the 143 million, I think of her.