Some of you have heard me talk of a family that has adopted a sibling group of three from Ethiopia. They are now in the process of adopting another sibling group of three (in addition to 3 biological children). I don't know them, just like reading their blog. Today I read her latest post and I thought she had a great message...
We are often asked WHY? Why would we adopt THREE kids, moreless SIX kids? Why would we do this? Why devote our lives to this "cause" (if you can truly even call it that).Here's why:
Because we believe that this life is not our own.
Because we believe that in the end, it won't matter what career ladders we climbed or financial investments we made or what gadgets we could afford. It will matter that six lives were saved.
Because we have seen hopelessness firsthand in Ethiopia and elsewhere, but believe in all hope that each child is a child of God.
Because we believe that the orphaned street child who plays street soccer on the rough pavement of the streets of Addis Ababa is no less valuable to the Creator than the polished child on a suburban soccer team here in America.
Because we see nothing more worthy of our focus, time, resources, and lives.
Because injustice is a wrong worth righting.
Because the poor child is still a child.
Because we know that, while adoption is not the solution in and of itself to the orphan crisis 143 million times over, we have seen with our own lives how it rescues the lives of those who can be adopted.
Because we believe that Jesus died for redemption, not just for eternity, but for our lives on this planet and we believe we can be vessels of that redemption for children's lives here.
Because we know that, if it were our own flesh and blood, we would want someone to love them and call them family, too.
Because, really, these kids are no different from your own. Not at all.
Because it's just not okay with us to say no to a child who needs a home when we have one.
Because it's just not okay with us to say no to a child who needs a family when we have one.
Because it's just not okay with us to say no to a child who needs room to thrive when we have room and can make room.
Because it's just not okay with us to do nothing.
Because it won't be okay with them if we do nothing.
Because it's just not going to be okay to do nothing.
"Rescue the perishing; don't hesitate to step in and help. If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business," [i.e. "that's not for me"] will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know— Someone not impressed with weak excuses." -Proverbs 24:12 (The Message)
"Once our eyes are opened we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12
You can check out their family at
www.blessingsfromethiopia.blogspot.com
Here is Daddy and Declan watching Obama get sworn in. Declan has a special relationship with Obama. Several months before the election, out of the blue, he said to us, "I know who I am going to vote for." We said, "Who?" He said, "Arack Obama." Perplexed, we asked why he had chose him. "I saw him talk and I liked what he said." Declan doesn't watch much TV but I guess he must have seen him somewhere. He was very excited, as we were, to watch the happenings today.
Obama being elected has been an eye opening experience for Declan. We have been talking to him quite a bit about his new brother or sister looking different from him. We look at books, vidoes, pictures of people from Ethiopia. As we watched the Will.I.Am video Yes We Can on Youtube, I explained that Obama would be the first African-American president, the first man with brown skin to be president. Declan was intrigued by this, as if he had never noticed. He said, "Just like my new brother or sister." Shortly after that, he noticed Oprah has brown skin as well. I am excited to know our child will come to this country and all things will be possible!
