How Can We Not? (adapted from a post by Heidi Weimer)

I am thrilled to announce that my husband and I have just begun the process to adopt the 11yo boy I wrote about earlier in my blog, "V". If things go as hoped, we hope to have him home by Christmas! It is amazing to think that we will have 5 children ages 8-11 and a grand total of 7 children!!! In light of this - we are sure to get the questions....

WHY? Why would we adopt one more child, considering we now have 6 children? Why would we do this? Haven't we done enough (considering we have adopted 3 already)? Why devote our lives to this "cause" (if you can truly even call it that).

Here's why:

Because we believe that this life is not our own.

Because we believe that in the end, it won't matter what career ladders we climbed or financial investments we made or what gadgets we could afford. It will matter that 4 children's lives were saved.

Because we have seen hopelessness firsthand in Ukraine and elsewhere, but believe in all hope that each child is a child of God.

Because we believe that the orphaned child is no less valuable to the Creator than the polished child in a suburban neighborhood here in America.

Because we see nothing more worthy of our focus, time, resources, and lives.

Because injustice is a wrong worth righting.

Because the orphaned child is still a child.

Because we know that, while adoption is not the solution in and of itself to the orphan crisis 143 million times over, we have seen with our own lives how it rescues the lives of those who can be adopted.

Because we believe that Jesus died for redemption, not just for eternity, but for our lives on this planet and we believe we can be vessels of that redemption for children's lives here.

Because we know that, if it were our own flesh and blood, we would want someone to love them and call them family, too.

Because we believe that adopting a child is the closest thing to resembling what God did for us by adopting us in to His family.

Because, really, these kids are no different from your own. Not at all.

Because it's just not okay with us to say no to a child who needs a home when we have one.

Because it's just not okay with us to say no to a child who needs a family when we have one.

Because it's just not okay with us to say no to a child who needs love to thrive when we have that love to give.

Because it's just not okay with us to do nothing.

Because it won't be okay with them if we do nothing.

Because it's just not going to be okay to do nothing.

"Rescue the perishing; don't hesitate to step in and help. If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business," [i.e. "that's not for me"] will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know— Someone not impressed with weak excuses." -Proverbs 24:12 (The Message)

"Once our eyes are opened we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12