October 16th- While We Were

In February we learned of the death of two 'waiting angels' who had Down syndrome. They lived at the mental institution where Emma would have been transferred. What struck me so hard was that they passed away mere weeks after I left Ukraine with our children. Had God not brought us to Ukraine and into the circumstances and paths that He led to get Emma on the twisted road that we walked for her... Emma would have been at that institution at that time. She would have been transferred the day after our court date (her 5th birthday). Those two girls, along with many others whose names and faces we were never blessed to know, died of the flu.

This year with questions of H1N1 viruses and flu shots and all the 'talk' that goes around with it... I cannot help but think of Margarita and Katarina and the lives that were lost during that bought of the flu in Ukraine. The same flu bug that I had while I was there too...

It touched me so deeply because my daughter would have died right there with those girls- no question about it- if she had been transferred. Brings even more PRAISE to God's timing and TRUST in His will for our lives. I'll never know why some had to go and live that life and die in that way... and I hope and pray that the numbers of orphans in that situation will decrease dramatically as the Body of Christ steps forward to care for the children that are cast aside, forgotten, or left behind.

This is a poem that I wrote that I was reminded of today from a fellow blogger. It circulated among the Internet and I am grateful that it continues to touch lives. Though I'm filled with sorrow that the life and death it represents is so very true today :(

While We Were...

While we were eating...
... they were hungry

While we were playing...
... they were restrained

While we were tucking our kids into bed...
... they were alone

While we turned up the heat...
... they laid in the icy cold

While we wrapped our children in blanket sleepers...
... they laid in their own excrement

While we sang songs and listened to music...
... they listened to the screams and cries of those around them

While we rocked our babies...
... they silently rocked themselves

While we hugged our kids...
... they scratched at their own faces and pulled their own hair for stimulation

While we cried over scraped knees...
... they moaned in their loneliness

While we brushed our daughters' beautiful hair...
... they had their heads shaven to stave off the lice

While we fought off the flu with love and nourishment...
... they caught it and went Home.

No longer suffering... but so many more still are.

In memory of those that have never felt the love of a family, but have passed away alone.

Just two of the many...

Margarita

Katarina

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