It can't be ignored

Once we know the plight of orphans...
once we know the treatment they receive...
once we know how many are waiting...
once we know the lack of medical care...
--- the lack of love...
--- the lack of therapies...
--- the lack of attention...
Once we know their life span...
once we know their destiny...
once we know that there's a way to help...
once we know that God can even use me...

What choice do we have but to act on it?

Or turn away.

Unfortunately, turn away is what many choose to do.

I consider it a huge blessing to help be a voice for these sweet children. To advocate for them both in this online environment of 'virtual life' and in my day to day life as we meet people along the street... in the mall... at the doctor's office... at the school... and we share our story. Our story. The story God wrote for us. The one He's allowed us to be a part of.

But more than just being a voice, more than living it out with our two adopted kids, I am touched more by the adoptive families that I work with and the children they are bringing home than I could ever return to any of them. It's an honor to be a part of God's plan for these kids to come into their forever families!

Now that we know, though, what do we do?

One of the parents I'm helping adopt right now posted a blog post about the orphan. About how adoption is often looked at as an 'ok' thing for people who can no longer have their own children. It's a great second try at parenting. It's a way for parents to have the baby they long for if they cannot birth their own.

Or maybe...

It's ok for a family that has decided not to have more biological kids. One that has that drive for a larger family but will not be giving birth again. Then the orphan is there to fill that void.

But the point she made is that the orphan isn't even a part of the story until there's a mother longing to hold one. Until then, it's about the parents.

There are 147 million orphans!! Seriously, One hundred forty seven MILLION.

And whether or not you're looking to hug one or hold one or send one a $1/month meal, they're still there. Still living out their reality and not knowing what life is like in a family or with people that really care about them.

Especially orphans with special needs that lay in their beds day in and day out with little or no interaction and often minimal nourishment.

So what will you do? How will you choose to act on the knowledge of these people suffering? How has your life changed knowing about the orphans? How might theirs be? What will you do with this knowledge?