Children On My Heart

"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble..."  
~James 1:27

Every time I read something about the children of Africa, my heart breaks.  Yes, I realize that there are children all over the world that have the same needs and hurts, and that breaks my heart too....but Africa's children have a special place in my heart.  

It's been very hard to be in waiting mode this past year.  It feels like I'm just sitting here doing nothing.  I would love to bring a dozen or more children here, to become our children.  But we only have so much room and we only have so much money to support a family.....these two things are the biggest factors that help us to know just how much we can do.  We will be waiting and listening to God's leading as far as to how many children He will bless our family with.  As for right now....we are just enjoying the journey!

This is a poem that I came across early on in our adoption process and it really touched my heart.  This boy definitely has the right idea.  Sometimes a task can seem overwhelming but if everyone helps a little, eventually a lot can be accomplished!  

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy

picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, 

he asked, "What are you doing?" The youth replied, "Throwing starfish back into the ocean.  The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them back, they'll die." "Son," said the man, "don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can't make a difference, it's impossible!" After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf.  Then, smiling at the man, he said...." I made a difference for that one."

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness. There are so, so many hurting, hungry children; I want to help them all, but can’t. I want to save every life, but it’s impossible.
There are millions of children suffering from malnutrition all over the world today. Every year over 15,000,000 children die of hunger. We can’t save the lives of even one percent of the precious little boys and girls who will die this year. The situation is seemingly hopeless. But as we work, sifting through the sand our fingertips grasp something....we attempt to cast that little one back into the ocean. It’s not always easy to pick them up, to lift them out of the sand, but as we do, beauty is unveiled; life is found, a life that has simply been waiting for someone to pull them out from under the tide that is ever washing over them.

It's true, we cannot save every life, but we can save a few... 

...Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.   ~Matthew 25:40

There are so many children just waiting for someone to realize that they are missing something in their life...won't you reach out and love "The least of these"? 

This quote is posted on a wall of Betsega Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:

"His Name is Today"

"We are guilty of many errors and many faults, 

but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. 

Many of the things we need can wait. 

The child cannot. 

Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, and his senses are being developed. 

To him we cannot answer....`Tomorrow,' 

......his name is today."

- Gabriele Mistral

Many blessings on your day......

Wendy