National adoption awareness month...and I still will.
November is National Foster Care and Adoption Month! If you know me even a little bit you probably know how much I love this topic. Since I was a very young girl, I have had a heart for adoption.....and rescue.....and to set the lonely in families. For me it is foster care and adoption months all 12 months of the year, but for the rest of the nation, we raise awareness in November.
Tonight the annual Katelyn's Fund auction took place. We have been a part of this ministry for years and years and we love it so much. We had planned to attend the auction dinner and stay for part of the actual auction fun, then go to the college for a home basketball game because Claire danced at half time. We didn't have funds to donate any big ticket items or to buy any, but I decided to donate a meal a month for a year. Of course, I first called my mom and asked if she would help me do it....because I am NOT crazy, after all. (insert snicker....chuckle....giggle.....its ok).
Precious got sick with fever and cough today so we could not attend the auction. I stopped by to survey the items and get a few hugs and then went home, we ordered pizza and then I rushed over to the game and waited until the girl taking money packed up her table with 8 minutes to go in the first half. See....then I didn't have to pay because I was not staying for the game....just the half time show and a few minutes of watching my sweet Claire dance. After the performance I went back home to parent....and pick up the same toys I picked up 3 other times today, and get really, really crabby. Today was not the day I expected.
Foster care and Adoption are amazing, and tragic. They are exciting and terrifying. Adding children to your family this way is definitely not what you would expect. It is communities such as Katelyn's Fund and the global adoption community that bring all the warmth and encouragement. I got a text from the recipient of our donation. She is a friend of mine. She and her family have been a part of our adoptions and have helped us and blessed us in crazy ways.....like being part of a team that snuck into our house after Josiah came home, and built a wall to make a bedroom for him where there had not been one before. Crazy stuff. I get to make her family a meal once a month for a year because she bought my donation. I cannot wait. I hope I can bless her socks off this way. It is not a burden for me to cook a meal for a family who will enjoy it. Lets face it, I am cooking anyway.
I still carry a burden in my heart for un-adopted and foster children. I ache for them to be received into a loving Christian home that will give them hope and a future in Jesus. I still ask God often if this child or that child or those children should be with us.....and I ask him if the question is an invitation from him or from the world.....because if He is asking then we still will consider it. I still will say yes if God is asking us to. Even in our full house, our busy life, our financial blech, our unfinished projects around the house, our lack of ability to buy or do certain things.....I still will say Yes if God asks. I will. I don't need to bring them to my home for me. I don't have some empty spot in my heart or home that is waiting for a child. My heart and my home are so full. So so full. Blessed beyond all measure......but I still will if there are children who do not have a mama's heart to love them or a place to call home.
I heard it said once that if all the Christians in the world would adopt one child there would be no more orphans. I can't really wrap my brain around that....other than to say it is November and National Adoption and Foster Care month.
If you have a stirring in your heart for this and you are terrified please know you are not alone. Everything about this is hard. The fear is the most reasonable piece of it.......but trust me when I say......a loved child is worth it. A child raised to love others and know Jesus and find their purpose on Earth......its why I still will and why everyone should consider whether they should.
Tonight the annual Katelyn's Fund auction took place. We have been a part of this ministry for years and years and we love it so much. We had planned to attend the auction dinner and stay for part of the actual auction fun, then go to the college for a home basketball game because Claire danced at half time. We didn't have funds to donate any big ticket items or to buy any, but I decided to donate a meal a month for a year. Of course, I first called my mom and asked if she would help me do it....because I am NOT crazy, after all. (insert snicker....chuckle....giggle.....its ok).
Precious got sick with fever and cough today so we could not attend the auction. I stopped by to survey the items and get a few hugs and then went home, we ordered pizza and then I rushed over to the game and waited until the girl taking money packed up her table with 8 minutes to go in the first half. See....then I didn't have to pay because I was not staying for the game....just the half time show and a few minutes of watching my sweet Claire dance. After the performance I went back home to parent....and pick up the same toys I picked up 3 other times today, and get really, really crabby. Today was not the day I expected.
Foster care and Adoption are amazing, and tragic. They are exciting and terrifying. Adding children to your family this way is definitely not what you would expect. It is communities such as Katelyn's Fund and the global adoption community that bring all the warmth and encouragement. I got a text from the recipient of our donation. She is a friend of mine. She and her family have been a part of our adoptions and have helped us and blessed us in crazy ways.....like being part of a team that snuck into our house after Josiah came home, and built a wall to make a bedroom for him where there had not been one before. Crazy stuff. I get to make her family a meal once a month for a year because she bought my donation. I cannot wait. I hope I can bless her socks off this way. It is not a burden for me to cook a meal for a family who will enjoy it. Lets face it, I am cooking anyway.
I still carry a burden in my heart for un-adopted and foster children. I ache for them to be received into a loving Christian home that will give them hope and a future in Jesus. I still ask God often if this child or that child or those children should be with us.....and I ask him if the question is an invitation from him or from the world.....because if He is asking then we still will consider it. I still will say yes if God is asking us to. Even in our full house, our busy life, our financial blech, our unfinished projects around the house, our lack of ability to buy or do certain things.....I still will say Yes if God asks. I will. I don't need to bring them to my home for me. I don't have some empty spot in my heart or home that is waiting for a child. My heart and my home are so full. So so full. Blessed beyond all measure......but I still will if there are children who do not have a mama's heart to love them or a place to call home.
I heard it said once that if all the Christians in the world would adopt one child there would be no more orphans. I can't really wrap my brain around that....other than to say it is November and National Adoption and Foster Care month.
If you have a stirring in your heart for this and you are terrified please know you are not alone. Everything about this is hard. The fear is the most reasonable piece of it.......but trust me when I say......a loved child is worth it. A child raised to love others and know Jesus and find their purpose on Earth......its why I still will and why everyone should consider whether they should.
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