thanksgiving day

Anyone who has met me knows right off that I haven't missed too many meals.  Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever missed any, and am certain I have had a few extra.

But we have a son in our house whose mouth will always bear the scars of having teeth rotted out from malnutrition.  Letters from his grandparents describing him going days without food also attest to the depravity.

These letters weren't written 100 year ago.  These teeth didn't rot out in a past lifetime.  This happened within the last ten years.  And not in a third world country either, but in a booming, industrial country.  This happened in China.

As our 59lbs,  thirteen year old son arrived in the US last year, we were quickly reminded that we have so much to be thankful for.  Yet, one of the things we most often forget about is being thankful for the opportunity to do something about it. 

It was awesome running a 5k this morning with my love and with an incredible group of people (Shout Out to our Firman Fitness Family!!) who care so much for others, knowing that out entry fee was canned goods to help feed hungry people.  

One of my favorite authors said,

"We ask God, 'why are so many people dying of starvation?'

He has more of a right to ask us why so many people are starving."

-Francis Chan

Happy Thanksgiving.  What an opportunity to make such a difference in the life of another.  I know someone who invested everything he had in me, and I'm worthless.

Imagine if that care, love, and compassion was played out through our lives into someone else.  The results would be life changing.  

There are so many more people starving in this world.  I know because I have been with them.  From the Sioux reservations in Montana, to the caves in Luoning, China, there are still hungry people that need our help.  What are we going to do about it?  

There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.

-Mahatma Ghandi

snakes, snails, and puppy dog tails...

What about a boy?

Sitting here checking out FB, I scroll through and see post after post on children waiting... Children waiting for a forever families. 

These are not babies, these are not children with a perfect bill of health.. Really, what child ever comes with a perfect bill of health??

Each child is born with a unique and perfectly designed special need. A special need that a uniquely perfectly designed family has been made for.

So what is that precious mixture of snakes, snails, and puppy dog tails???? 

B-O-Y-S

Did you know that at this moment there are boys (over 1200) that are just waiting for their family to find them. They are hoping that maybe "that American" that came and visited them in their orphanage in China will write up a clever post about them....And just maybe a family 12,000 miles away will see their picture taken by "this American". Maybe, just maybe, "they'll want me"...No, I am not a baby, I am not a little girl, and maybe I have a rap sheet of a medical file, but I would really love a family! 

Day by day passes and the dreaded number 14 keeps getting closer. 

I see so many posts advocating for these sweet boys. Older boys. Boys that want and need a family. 

(Boys like Joseph. video link here: http://youtu.be/_4GoJkhJWYY )

Those of you who know us, know we have a special place in a our hearts for older boys... It's not that we don't like girls, we do and we love our sweet daughter with all our hearts but Jon and I started to ask God to help us look beyond ourselves, look beyond our wants and desires and asked HIM to make our hearts like His. And when we did, our eyes were opened to a world we never knew existed.... The world of the unwanted older children. The world of the ignored child. The world of the waiting children. The world of the Chinese older boys... 

We are going to need help! We need all of your social media outlets, all of your connections, and all of your voices to reach out and make known the need for these precious older Chinese boys to be adopted! A lot more of our blog post are going to be advocating for different children that are waiting. It will be pleading to share post and just maybe if we can all become a unified voice, one by one (maybe even two by two ;) ) these children will be adopted and be found! 

We need to see an uprising of advocacy, a wave of voices educating about the need that is out there. So many people just don't know, I mean really know the insanity of the orphan crisis. Sure, they may think, "oh bless their hearts." But do they really know? 

We want to put faces and names out there in a way like never before!

Through our own personal stories we want to erase some of the fears that people have about adopting older children.... older boys. We want to be real and upfront.  Oh my goodness! there are HARD days... but isn't a child's life worth it? 

To really make a point I thought about adding a sound bite of Sarah McLachlan's "In the arms of the Angels", to really get the emotions flowing like the unwanted puppy and kitty commercials...

Do you think we could all be one voice and find these forgotten older boys some families?? If we can all jump on the band wagon and adopt an animal, can't we all open up our hearts to these children?? (And before I get hate mail about the animal comment, please know we have adopted our share of dogs and cats too!) :) 

But People Please, let's work together! Let's together help bring awareness to these older waiting boys in China!! And, you might just find a boy from China that you never knew was your son!!