Adoption in the Raw~ {WHAT Breaks Your Heart?}

 I guess because EK finished up her school work before the others,

she went digging through our home videos~

and instead of FIAR activity time, we had Life lessons time.

As I sat reliving Amelia's birth, I overheard their conversations processing what they watched.

~you had Mimi in your tummy

~is that little girl Nana

~ where is Gigi

~we're in China

~they didn't GET them like us

~who are those people (Scott's parents gone before they came home)

~look at Memommy and Sissy

Just a beautiful picture of redemption for me.

An hour later, still watching~

It is times like this when adoption thoughts get deep 

and soulful... and I hold my littles each extra tight

so they can FEEL the Forever they now live.

The reality of their loss takes my heart over the edge sometimes

and I would never have wished it on them even if it meant me not being their mom.

{Now THAT is RAW for me!}

I would have chosen their first parents getting the joy I get every single day

BUT

that's not how life turned out for them SO...

We make adoption and loss and hard things a normal okay kind of talk

every single day they want to talk about it.

They ask questions and I answer as best I can

 with my broken/thankful momma heart all rolled into one.

I don't know all the answers and probably never will

but I want them to know...

 they can ALWAYS ask 

and I will ALWAYS

walk through the good,

 the bad, 

the beautiful, 

and the raw right along with them.

I recently listened to a sermon by Andy Stanley @ North Point Community Church

called Resolution: The Better Question.

He said,

This is that time of year when we become painfully aware of where we are not, who we are not, and what we need to do differently. Traditionally, the new year is a season of self-absorption. It’s all about what we can do to make ourselves better people. The result is that churches, health clubs, debt counselors, and vitamin shops do a booming business.

But we tend to forget that the people we respect the most didn’t devote their lives to becoming the best version of themselves. They devoted their lives to making a difference in the world . . . or in someone’s world.

Learning to give myself away has been the biggest lesson in my adoption journey.

Once we chose this path for our lives, 

our commitment to self was sidetracked.

Andy's key question was~

WHAT breaks your heart?

The beginnings of THESE~

is WHAT breaks my heart!

The choice of their first parents to let them go.

The time they each spent abandoned all alone until found.

Being taken to orphanages where they would live until chosen.

Waiting, waiting waiting.

Cold, hungry, crying, sick with our love to wrap them up.

Being taken to a scary place one day and given to total strangers.

Thrown into a whole new life with no experiences to hinge it all on.

I could go on and on and on but I'll stop here.

Our children have so much to overcome and

so much to live for as well.

Watching the videos today opened up even more opportunities for love to grow

through all the things they have to process.

At one point in the sermon, Andy told a story of he and his wife having a moment

when they broke down over the question~

WHAT if we had MISSED this?

Scott and I feel the same way about ALL our children...

Brings us to SOBS when we think~

WHAT IF WE HAD MISSED THIS?

{what if we had missed the 5 births and the 6 gotchas we witnessed}

It may be the hardest calling in the world,

but I wouldn't trade my life for anything in the world!!!

{Good, bad, beautiful, and raw}

SO I ask YOU today~

WHAT Breaks Your Heart?

There are 153 million orphans in the world.

Does THAT break your heart?

Please take time to pray how God could change not only the world of a child

but also the blessing you might be missing.

What if you miss it?

Believe me!!!

You DON'T want to!

Nehemiah 1:11a

Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant 

and to the prayer of your servants who

delight in revering your name.

Nothing would make me happier than helping YOU begin a journey

toward YOUR child waiting somewhere in this world.

I am just a comment, email, or call away.

I will help you begin to mend hearts!!!

Orphan Sunday~

November is National Adoption Month and today is Orphan Sunday. One of my favorite quotes~

“We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.” – Radical by David Platt.

There are two precious orphans waiting in China to come home to their forever and a precious friend of mine just happens to be in China right now adopting her son and MET EvieClaire this week!

 These were her sweet words:

Sharon, I was able to meet Wen Fan yesterday! She is adorable! A gorgeous little doll! She is so teeny tiny. Maybe 12 mo. sized clothes. She came out to see what all the noise was in the hallway and I spotted her right away. I got down on my knees and said "Ni hao" to her and she immediately started crying and ran towards her nanny. But she later followed me down another hallway and stood outside the door checking us out. When we walked back out again, I said hello to her and again she started crying. But instead of running to her nanny, she ran to another little girl named Xiaomeng (CHOW-mung) who is Annie's daughter. You know Annie, don't you? The two of them are buddies even though they're so different in age, height, development, etc. I was able to take many photos of her, but my Internet connection here in Zhengzhou is horrible so I can't get them to send, but I'll keep on trying. She is beautiful! A total doll. She is healthy and doing very well. She is a favorite of the nannies and they love to hug and kiss her.

 And now for the proof~

 My heart is exploding to hold and LOVE her forever!!!

The little girl in pink is waiting for her forever too.

I can't put into words what a blessing adoption has been for our family. There are more than 143 million orphans in the world, ALL deserving the love of a family and Forever! If there is anything I can say to you that will make a difference... PRAY! Pray for orphans to find their family. Pray for what God might be calling you to do. Pray for our family as we continue to raise funds to travel for our two orphans that will have their forever hopefully by the new year.

I know three littles that love has changed forever~

  and two more waiting~

On Orphan Sunday, Christians stand for the orphan. We are a people called to defend the fatherless…to care for the child that has no family…to visit orphans in their distress.

Sermons and small groups, concerts and prayer gatherings, shared meals and youth activities—each rousing believers with God’s call to care for the orphan, and what we can do in response.

From many sources, one voice. On November 4th, 2012, thousands of events echo across America and around the globe, all sharing a single goal: that God’s great love for the orphan will find echo in our lives as well.

Orphan Sunday is your opportunity to rouse church, community and friends to God’s call to care for the orphan.
Francis Chan for Orphan Sunday