Praying for Haitian orphans

Did you know that to adopt a child from Haiti it takes a really long time? As in, about a year to get a referral and then an ADDITIONAL 2-3 years of waiting to bring that child home. Wow. No kidding. Way to make it so NOT easy to save those children.

That of course is pre-earth quake. At this point it's going to be next to impossible. Trying to determine whether or not a child is in fact an orphan will be quite a task. There are children who have been referred to families in America who will be "expedited" through. This article talks about how these children will get home...

Press Release

(Port-au-Prince, Haiti) On January 20, 2010, 133 orphans from the Maison des Enfants de Dieu (Children of the House of God) orphanage will begin the difficult process outlined by the U.S. Department of State for humanitarian parole and onward transportation to the United States. In accordance with instructions received from the State Department, as relayed by the Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS) at 8 p.m. today, orphans along with orphanage staff members have been instructed to arrive at the U.S. Embassy as early as possible on Wednesday morning. JCICS warned that no food, water or facilities would be available for the children while processing at the U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince.

JCICS further relayed that orphanage requests to the U.S. Embassy for security and transportation for the children have been denied by the State Department. The U.S. ministry associated with this orphanage, For His Glory Adoption Outreach (FHG), was also asked to stop requesting security, transportation or even water at the orphanage location. Following discussions with staff and board members in Port-au-Prince, the difficult decision was made that all 133 children, including approximately 60 children under the age of 3, will begin early in the morning of January 20th to walk the over 2 kilometers to the U.S. Embassy Port-au-Prince. This decision was made due to the limited staff available and the increasingly dangerous security situation at the orphanage in Port-au-Prince. The staff will carry as much water, food and baby formula as possible with them for the orphans while processing at the U.S. Embassy. JCICS relayed that once processing is completed, the orphans will travel to the United States on "cargo jets to locations that are not often known until an hour or so before the flight leaves."

Kim Harmon, President of FHG, acknowledged that "this arrangement is far from ideal for the safety and well-being of the children. We are calling to all who care about these precious children to pray earnestly for their safety tomorrow."

Yeah, they are WALKING to the U.S. Embassy to catch cargo planes who knows when to finally get out. I pray that they've made it safely. That is just one orphanage.

So what about the children who were obviously orphans prior to the disaster? What about those children now? How much longer will they now need to wait to find families, especially since there could be a hold put on adoptions through Haiti? I followed some links and found this. At this point, I wish I were screened and approved as a foster parent. I would gladly foster a child until they could get back to Haiti.

Please pray for these children.

wow

Sometimes I think that if I just ignore it then it will go away. Maybe if I just don't pay attention to the echos and whispers then I won't hear them anymore. Sometimes I think I'm wrong. That I'm not interpreting the echos and whispers correctly. There's no way they could mean what I think they mean. Maybe, as someone recently suggested, the things I "see" are God's way of telling me that He's got it covered. He's got it under control. I don't need to help. After all, I am just one measly person. What good could I do?

Then I get a spare minute and head over to Ashley's blog and read this.

wow.

How can I not try to help in some way. Isn't there SOMETHING that I can do?

Bandwagon

I recently noticed on a friends website a mention of adoption. I sent my friend an email about it and asked if she and her husband were considering adoption. She said they were, that they had been for years and that they were just kind of waiting to see where the Lord led them in that situation. Sounded awfully familiar. One thing she asked though was that I please keep this information to myself because she didn't want people to think that they were just "jumping on the latest bandwagon".

I knew exactly what she meant. How do you go from someone who has never really cared at all to someone who's eyes have been opened to the countless needs of children around the world and NOT have people wonder what on earth has gotten into you. I image when that happens you hear a lot of people mumbling about how you've lost your mind. How maybe you've gotten a wild hair and decided to do something crazy. Or perhaps that other people you know have adopted and you've just jumped on the bandwagon.

I'm not gonna lie, that's been a concern of mine. So much so that I have only shared this blog with a few people. For several months now I have felt that He is calling me to adopt. I've prayed about it. A lot. I shared it with my husband. He's not feeling it. At this point we are both just diligently praying that what ever His will for us, that we both be in line with it. Maybe we'll adopt. Maybe we won't. I'm just excited and anxious at this point to see how He uses me. In the meantime, I started this blog to document my feelings. I've never been a very good communicator and it's often easier for me to work through my thoughts if I write them down. I figured I would share this "secret" blog with a handful of people who I could talk to about it.

One day while on Ashley's blog I noticed that she had added this litle "secret" blog of mine to her blog roll. It was out there for the whole world to see. I kind of panicked at first. I didn't know that I was ready for everyone to hear this information. I got scared. I didn't want to be accused of...jumping on the bandwagon. I thought about asking her to remove the link but ultimately decided that no one would really see it anyway. Right? I mean, did she have readers that would click on that new random link and know it was me? Surely not. Right?


Wrong.


Just before Christmas I got word that someone ran into a friend and said, "So, I guess Brad and Margo are adopting!". Not so much. But, she'd apparently come to my blog from Ashley's. Panic set in again as I realized that people had already seen my blog and there was no hiding it now. Then something crazy happened. I decided it didn't really matter. As much as I'm a people pleaser, the only person that I REALLY have to please is God. And if I'm listening to Him and trying to follow His will for my life and other people think I've completely lost it or jumped on some bandwagon then what does that matter? There are people in the world who aren't free to openly serve my God and here I am concerned about what people might think of me if they knew I believe He is leading me to help orphans in some way? Wow. Selfish much Margo?

I would hope that whoever might run across this blog of mine would take notice that some significant changes are happening to me. That they would remember that who I have been up until this point in my life doesn't have to be who I am for the remainder of my days on this earth. And I pray that at some point years down the road it would be this NEW me that people would think of when they hear my name. Better yet, that they would think of my God and what HE did through me!

Lord, when I stand before You someday may I have much more to show you than the fact that I clung to the balance beam my whole life and played it safe!