Stuck

When Josh & I were engaged, we began to see, through the couple who led us through premarital counseling, the need for adoption & the blessing it is for families who adopt. We knew before we were married that there was a calling on our lives to adopt, & in the 6 years since then, our passion for adoption has grown. I don't just desire adoption for our family, but I desire to see every orphan have a mommy & a daddy, which is something I constantly pray for.

Last night my friend Sara & I went to a one-night showing of a documentary called Stuck. (Sara & her husband will leave in a few short weeks to pick up their daughter in China.) It is about international adoption & the roadblocks that delay & sometimes prevent children from coming home to their families. It was produced by the Both Ends Burning movement, which hopes to gain a social following that will lead to political change. (Visit the website for more information & to sign the petition that will go to Capitol Hill in May.)

The documentary was very well done & drove me to tears several times; I had to hold back from being *that* sobbing woman who prevents everyone else from hearing the movie. Some of the scenes were too much - seeing babies & children practically stacked on top of each other in institutions, physically malnourished, & in the worst cases, severely mentally damaged due to lack of attention, affection, & mental stimulation. At one point I had to look away because I was so close to breaking into sobs. Conservative estimates say there are 10 million orphans worldwide. I can't even begin to comprehend that number. I so badly want to rock those babies who cry, to hold those children who have never been hugged. I feel so helpless. I know we'll adopt one day. But what is one, two, three kids in the midst of 10 million?

God reminds me that my job is to simply obey, & do what He has set out for us to do. I can't feel responsible for taking care of each orphan. But the burden is there, so I pray. A lot. The world is a broken & hurting place, & I have never been so aware of that fact as I have recently. So many times I am driven to prayer, but I don't know what to pray. But in my cries, I hear the reassuring voice of Jesus. He sees them. He knows. & with that, I must trust. He is a good God. I must believe the promises I see in scripture, & trust in the character of God, that He has this issue in His mighty hands. He sees every last orphan, & He loves them so.

I am so thankful for a God who:
- executes justice for the fatherless (Deut. 10:18)
- is the Father of the fatherless & sets the solitary in a home (Ps. 68:5-6)
- upholds the fatherless (Ps. 146:9)
- sets the Church out to take care of the orphan (James 1:27) & to defend their cause (Isaiah 1:17)
- is their Helper, who takes their cause into His hands (Ps. 10:14)
- is where the orphan finds mercy (Hosea 14:3)

The heart of birthmoms

As you probably know Josh & I plan on adopting & we are so excited about it. God gave us that desire when we were engaged & it has only strengthened since! I love reading the blogs of people who have adopted, especially through the agency we're going to go through. Read this story.

http://allthingshendrick.blogspot.com/2009/01/our-hero.html

Thoughts on adoption

Many of you who know us well know we plan to adopt at least one child one day, most likely a trans-racial baby, & most likely through New Life Adoption Agency. I have always wanted to adopt, although never felt a true calling to adopt until Josh & I were doing premarital counseling with the Bacaks, who have two adopted children (who are ADORABLE). Before we were even married, Josh & I both felt a real passion & desire to adopt, specifically through the same agency the Bacaks went through (Jenn's mom also works for the agency). The details are unknown to us - when, how many children, etc. But it's something we are excited about doing in our future.

The other day I was speaking with a friend about adoption (as her & her husband are also planning to adopt, & she is adopted) & all of a sudden I got hit with the reality of it all. What if we get chosen by a birthmom, then she changes her mind right after she has the baby? What will the relationship look like between our adopted child & his/her birthmom throughout his/her life? Our trans-racial child will probably experience racism in his/her life & it will break our hearts. Although I knew these things before, it has never troubled me like it did suddenly. But then I realized almost as soon as these things hit me - it doesn't matter. God has placed this calling on our lives. It doesn't matter how it works out or what happens. The process will most likely be trying, & we will have to learn how to have grace for people who say & do stupid things (see this story from the Bacaks blog). But God has a plan & it will be amazing to see it worked out. I'm excited about it!

My scalp is peeling from getting sun last weekend. It looks like I have big white chunks gathering at my hairline. Grrrooosssssss!!! It's a ponytail day!!

Have a good weekend!

C

OREO PIZZA!!!!!

Yes, that's right. Oreos. on pizza. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before??? Domino's = genius. Josh is at the church softball league practice & I'm really hoping we won't have time to cook dinner... therefore... calorie-laden goodness.

So I should probably have some really good news about a week from now... so you'll have to check back then to find out. (& no, we're not pregnant. Not pregnant.)

Last weekend we went to a wedding in Midland & it was a lot of fun. A lot of the original families from the beginnings of our church were there, so it was really good to see people, catch up, & do some cake-eating & dancing. Some family friends of ours adopted a Chinese girl about four years ago. She's now seven & stinkin adorable. She is "High School Musical's biggest fan" & was doing scenes & quotes from the movies & quizzing me on the characters' real life names. I wanted to stick her in my purse & take her with me!! We would so adopt a Chinese baby... unfortunately, you can get about six brown babies for the price of one Chinese baby. But that's okay. One or two brown babies will be so great. :-) (Jenn, people laugh at us when we say "brown" baby... & here I thought it made perfect sense! Part black... equals brown. Duh.)

Our Aggie friends Brandon & Jessica are coming in this weekend to hang out & go to Schlitterbahn... they should be here in a couple hours. It should prove to be a good time!

That's all we got! Thanks for visiting!

J&C