Our Next Step

We went to the conference, Together for Adoption, in the beginning of October. It was so educational as we learned about he growing orphan crisis in the world. If there isn't some quick, radical change in how we view this problem and how we view the orphans and some quick radical change on how we respond, the number of orphans will continue to grow exponentially. right now there are somewhere around 163,000,000 orphans in the world. Many are orphaned due to AIDS.

The conference was not emotionally charged. They did not use manipulation to get you to adopt. Actually, the conference was more about ways Christians can care for orphans, adoption being one option, than it was just about adoption. It was about educating us on the crisis and the avenues of change that are already in place. It was about the local church getting involved in some way, any way.

So we went, looking to see how God would want to use us. We went already praying about children in Zambia. We went wondering if our kids would ever adopt and how we could serve them. We went to see how the two of us could fulfill James 1:27.

What we learned will never fade from us. We came face to face with the fact that Fred and I have not done anything to care for any orphans. We were convicted, but oh so gently, by the Holy Spirit that we need to act in some manner. We learned so much. We both felt such a prompting to find a way to care for the fatherless.

One evening I was very convicted of that we have developed a skewed view of sacrifice. That what we think is generous is not. That we have SO much and yet think we need more. That our suburban life has lulled us to sleep and we have forgotten the needy. I had already been feeling some of that for about a year. But, at the conference I really felt sadness of what I have come to think is normal living. I have more than 99% of the world will ever have. I am accountable for that which has been given to me. Fred says that generosity is measured, not by how much you give, by but how much you sacrifice when you give. I love it. Yes, I want to give sacrificially. I want to live sacrificially.

So, in the practical. We are praying. We have no idea what God is asking us to do. Fred and I have faith for us to just begin walking and see what doors the Lord opens and closes. We have begun the process to be trained to adopt a teenage girl from the foster care system. I don't know if we will end up with another daughter or if God has us in the training to support other families that do. We are looking into how we can support a ministry for Zambian orphans whose base is right here in Frisco. We are praying about going to Zambia next summer. They need men who will commit to go every year to train the boys. Fred would be so good at that. We are also looking into how we could get the children there a college education. $2000 would educate a Zambian kid with four years of college. There are so many ways we could serve. So many ministries that could use help. So many kids that need a home. We are just trying to discern what we are to do. Please pray for us to know the will of God and obey regardless of the cost. I see first hand the beauty of adoption. I have a niece and 2 nephews who were rescued by adoption. Their lives are beautiful pictures of how God has rescued me and called me his own.

I will leave you with a quote from a blogger I enjoy and respect, Heather Hendrick:

"I hope we all remember that we don't adopt because our hearts are stirred by some pictures on the Internet. We adopt because our hearts have been stirred by the gospel. We adopt because Christ invites us to play a part in redeeming all things on this earth. He enables us to extend love, forgiveness, and grace to children who have been hurt, abused, and neglected. Sometimes that's not easy, and it doesn't come natural. Sometimes it takes a lot of work, a lot of repentance, and a lot of forgiveness. We adopt because God loves adoption, and He says to care for the orphan. He says children are a blessing. He says to imitate Him, and thankfully He's adopted a whole heck of a lot of children. We adopt because we have been adopted in spite of all our dysfunction, our rebellion, our anger, and our insecurity. We've been shown grace and mercy, and so we extend grace and mercy.

I pray we ask the Lord what it looks like for each of us...each family...each church to love and care for the orphan in distress. Regardless of how hard it can be, when we care for the orphan, God is inviting us to come face to face with the gospel. He's inviting us to hold it in our laps. Is there any greater gift?"