| | All children deserve love  
   
Hanging out with Joshua and family yesterday, it occurred to me again how good he has it. It has nothing to do with material possessions, but everything to do with love. He's got the love and affection of his mom, grandparents, and aunt & uncle. He gets an abundance of hugs and kisses from all of us. It also occurred to me again that every child should have this privilege -- how every child deserves it.
About six months ago, MA and I learned about orphans here in America -- right here in SD. It is very obvious that there are needy orphans in foreign countries like China, but less obvious that there are needy orphans right here in our own backyard. These are children, from newborn to age 18, who are victims of broken homes and messed-up parents, separated temporarily (or permanently) from their parents because of abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Minimally, they need a home to live in with the essentials of food and shelter; optimally, they need a stable, loving environment that they can call 'home'.
God has put this on our hearts -- to provide this stable, loving, affirming home for foster children, specifically babies from newborn to 3-years-old. It's been a humbling road as we've been making preparations and envisioning the necessary adjustments in our lives. We know it won't be easy, but we know that God is in this and wants to see orphans taken care of. Some may say that we wouldn't put even a small dent on the foster care system, which has 6,000 children in SD county alone -- but it will mean the world to the individual child(ren) who will go through our home.
To each precious child, through our actions and our words, we want to say this -- we choose you, we love you, we want you. You are valuable, you are worthwhile, you are beautiful, you are precious (and if we adopt, you are our real child). Every child deserves love, just as much as Joshua, and just as much as our 'own' biological children. There is no difference. All are precious in God's sight -- and must be in our sight as well.
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| | Posted 3/31/2008 12:50 PM - 3 comments
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I'm so inspired by your decision. And as you say, it will make all the difference to each child who encounters your loving home.