Emperor Penguins have such a strong maternal instinct that if there are any orphaned eggs, the Penguins will fight each other over who incubates them and who raises them. How ironic is it that a group of animals can fight over who gets to raise the orphans among them, but there are approximately 175 million orphaned children actually living (not inside an egg) around the world who need parents but will end up in prostitution, drug abuse, suicide and even death because no one wanted them? In a recent Unicef report, they estimated there were currently between 143 million and 210 million orphans in the world. What would our world look like if people fought over who gets to raise these children? What if we could be rid of this statistic? In the U.S., the current statistic is that if 1 family in every church adopted 1 child out of the foster care system, there would be no orphans in America. To start there would make a drastic difference. We have seen first hand what conditions these kids live in: the fear, the guilt, the pain, the loss, the hurt, the struggle, the need...and the list goes on and on. These kids need parents and homes. They need someone fighting over them. I pray we act more like Penguins. I know that sounds cheesy, but seriously, this world could be rid of orphans. I know adoption is a scary word for some people, but it will be the hardest, most wonderful, unselfish thing you ever do. If you are wondering whether or not orphan care is for you...IT IS!!! It is for all of us. There are many different ways to participate in caring for orphans. Adoption is one, but that's not the only one. If you're interested, and don't know where to start, feel free to contact us. It's not a matter of want to, it's a matter of duty. We are called as Christ-followers to take care of widows and orphans. We are unworthy of this calling. We GET to adopt and take care of widows and orphans. It's an honor and a privilege. Please take a moment today to pray and seek God on what your role in orphan care or adoption might be. It is our duty and our opportunity to fight for these kids!
–an excerpt from the blog "More Love to Give" written by our friend Holly Bollinger who just returned from adopting their two girls in Ukraine. This is exactly our heart so we wanted to share!
Answering The Unanswered Question
Answering "The Unanswered Question" is hard. It's hard when asked by strangers, hard when asked by friends, hard when asked by family, hard when we ask it of ourselves, and hardest when asked by our girls in Haiti. We are to the point where many are afraid to ask it, or apologize for doing so. But please don't feel that way. It's still ok to ask. We never expected this process not to be hard. Everything about it is hard, and we don't expect it to get easier even when we are able to answer "When are the girls coming home?" and even when they do. Our daily prayer is that in the many hard days ahead that we will be able to "count them all joy". You see, God's adoption of us wasn't an easy process either, yet we are so thankful that He endured many hardships for our sakes.
Haiti's adoption process is one of the longest known to man (or at least to us!). It makes it more difficult for us (and others to understand) because of the circumstances in which we entered our adoptions of the girls. It has been 8 months now since we were first matched with our girls and submitted paperwork on the U.S. side, but initially that was under a different process, and that process (Humanitarian Parole) closed down last April. The best news we have received so far is that Haiti re-opened for adoptions at all. We hurried to submit our dossier on May 15th, 2010 (getting that done in the time frame we did it in was truly a miracle), and entered the long adoption process in Haiti at that time. Traditionally, Haiti's adoption process timeline is approx. 2 years. We are about 5 months into that, and because of the chaos of the earthquake, paperwork issues have slowed things down more than we had hoped or imagined. Our hope and prayer was that our dossier (along with the girls dossier with all their paperwork) would go to IBESR last June or July. It still is not there. This has been disheartening to say the least, but we are told the girls paperwork should be secured and completed within this month of October (Lord willing!) Please pray specifically for this and that once it does go to IBESR it will be placed in hands that will move it through quickly!
I want to encourage you with something God reminded me of just yesterday. I was thinking about a popular phrase and commonly asked question that was at one time "unanswered". Queen Esther was asked, "Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14) I've always heard the "for such a time as this" part emphasized to make a point or to answer a plaguing question. However, it was the "who knows?" part that grabbed my attention this time (probably because I've heard myself say that a lot lately). Part of the unanswered question is "Who knows?"! "Answering our unanswered question (or any question) with an unanswered question like "Who knows?" is nothing short of frustrating. It simply begs the question, "Then who does know?" Jeremiah 33:31 says, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." I told the Lord, "I want to know! I need to know!" I know there are some things God says we don't need to know, but I need to know this! And you know what? God gave me my answer! Many, many times throughout scripture He tells us, "And you shall know I am the Lord your God". Our son Ethan just finished memorizing Psalm 100. Each day I would hear his sweet voice practice saying these words, "Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and we are His." Thank you Lord for reminding me that you really do have the whole world in your hands, and that includes Haiti. So instead of answering the unanswered question with the question "Who knows?" from now on my answer will be "God knows!" and that is a really great thing to know!
Haiti's adoption process is one of the longest known to man (or at least to us!). It makes it more difficult for us (and others to understand) because of the circumstances in which we entered our adoptions of the girls. It has been 8 months now since we were first matched with our girls and submitted paperwork on the U.S. side, but initially that was under a different process, and that process (Humanitarian Parole) closed down last April. The best news we have received so far is that Haiti re-opened for adoptions at all. We hurried to submit our dossier on May 15th, 2010 (getting that done in the time frame we did it in was truly a miracle), and entered the long adoption process in Haiti at that time. Traditionally, Haiti's adoption process timeline is approx. 2 years. We are about 5 months into that, and because of the chaos of the earthquake, paperwork issues have slowed things down more than we had hoped or imagined. Our hope and prayer was that our dossier (along with the girls dossier with all their paperwork) would go to IBESR last June or July. It still is not there. This has been disheartening to say the least, but we are told the girls paperwork should be secured and completed within this month of October (Lord willing!) Please pray specifically for this and that once it does go to IBESR it will be placed in hands that will move it through quickly!
I want to encourage you with something God reminded me of just yesterday. I was thinking about a popular phrase and commonly asked question that was at one time "unanswered". Queen Esther was asked, "Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14) I've always heard the "for such a time as this" part emphasized to make a point or to answer a plaguing question. However, it was the "who knows?" part that grabbed my attention this time (probably because I've heard myself say that a lot lately). Part of the unanswered question is "Who knows?"! "Answering our unanswered question (or any question) with an unanswered question like "Who knows?" is nothing short of frustrating. It simply begs the question, "Then who does know?" Jeremiah 33:31 says, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." I told the Lord, "I want to know! I need to know!" I know there are some things God says we don't need to know, but I need to know this! And you know what? God gave me my answer! Many, many times throughout scripture He tells us, "And you shall know I am the Lord your God". Our son Ethan just finished memorizing Psalm 100. Each day I would hear his sweet voice practice saying these words, "Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and we are His." Thank you Lord for reminding me that you really do have the whole world in your hands, and that includes Haiti. So instead of answering the unanswered question with the question "Who knows?" from now on my answer will be "God knows!" and that is a really great thing to know!
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