It is beyond surreal to me that in 2 1/2 weeks I'm leaving for India. There is plenty I could do to prepare by hussling up donations of clothes or toys or whatever....but I'm really just hoping that if people want to give, they will give money. I'd love to take money along to give to Sarah to spend on needs as they arise. I'm sure I'll stock my 2 suitcases full of donated gifts and clothes, etc. that I have piled up for SCH already, but I just don't want to take a hodge-pog mix of stuff again this time. I've asked Sarah to let me know if there is something specific she would like us to bring. So far, the only thing she asked for was sterile gloves so if you have access to any of those, send them my way!
We get to spend 2 weeks working with Sarah, preparing files for adoptions, and getting to know kids. I'm asking God to help me to really know as many of the kids at SCH as possible, in that 2 weeks, because I just don't know when I'll get to go again. I would hope to be able to plan a trip at least once a year, but if God has other plans, then we all know that won't happen. What I know, for now, is that He wants me to go back. He wants me to hold children and breathe in the fragrance of them and memorize the feel of the weight of them, the softness of their skin, the light in their eyes, and to LOVE THEM. He wants me to know them by name and to take their pictures and to tell their stories....and quite possibly, to find families for many of them. Quite possibly, He wants me to bring them to your homes in the way of awareness, of prayer and of support. Quite possibly, someone out there will adopt a child from SCH and I can be a part of that story. A-ma-zing. A child that one family casts aside can be the very one that another Christian family fights for, longs for, prays for and draws in.....and God is letting me watch. So surreal. Such an honor.
I've had several deep and rich conversations recently with mamas who are seeking the Lord's guidance on whether they should adopt. I love those talks. The long answer takes an hour...or a week....or many weeks of hours. (smile). The short answer is "yes". Yes you should. If you think you are too old or too busy or too messed up to adopt yourself, then help someone else do so. 147 billion orphans are in the world. Seriously, it's just yes.
Going to India for 2 weeks every year is costly. It costs my family in money, in time, in emotional security...and it costs me. It would be much easier to just not. It would be much easier to tell the Lord, "Look. I know they are over there. I know they need to be held on a lap and rocked and prayed over and sung to. I know. Send someone else. I'll pray for them....or not, depending on whether I forget or not"...etc. Instead. I'm going. Jetlag. Malaria pill funk. Homesick. Churny stomach. Use of vacation hours at work. Anguish over the poverty. Heart-sick for the very idea of ORPHAN. Overwhelming truth that nothing I do will fix anything. At all. Skyping my family and watching my kids wipe away tears because they miss me and I miss them so, so much.....do not, for a minute, believe that this is not a costly venture. It's God's idea. It really is. When I pray and ask Him to line up my desires and my will with His.....my love for SCH and the orphans of India, and the director, Sarah....it just grows. SCH is God's passion. I know it. I'm going. Surreal, impractical, excessive. Just like my Lord.
We get to spend 2 weeks working with Sarah, preparing files for adoptions, and getting to know kids. I'm asking God to help me to really know as many of the kids at SCH as possible, in that 2 weeks, because I just don't know when I'll get to go again. I would hope to be able to plan a trip at least once a year, but if God has other plans, then we all know that won't happen. What I know, for now, is that He wants me to go back. He wants me to hold children and breathe in the fragrance of them and memorize the feel of the weight of them, the softness of their skin, the light in their eyes, and to LOVE THEM. He wants me to know them by name and to take their pictures and to tell their stories....and quite possibly, to find families for many of them. Quite possibly, He wants me to bring them to your homes in the way of awareness, of prayer and of support. Quite possibly, someone out there will adopt a child from SCH and I can be a part of that story. A-ma-zing. A child that one family casts aside can be the very one that another Christian family fights for, longs for, prays for and draws in.....and God is letting me watch. So surreal. Such an honor.
I've had several deep and rich conversations recently with mamas who are seeking the Lord's guidance on whether they should adopt. I love those talks. The long answer takes an hour...or a week....or many weeks of hours. (smile). The short answer is "yes". Yes you should. If you think you are too old or too busy or too messed up to adopt yourself, then help someone else do so. 147 billion orphans are in the world. Seriously, it's just yes.
Going to India for 2 weeks every year is costly. It costs my family in money, in time, in emotional security...and it costs me. It would be much easier to just not. It would be much easier to tell the Lord, "Look. I know they are over there. I know they need to be held on a lap and rocked and prayed over and sung to. I know. Send someone else. I'll pray for them....or not, depending on whether I forget or not"...etc. Instead. I'm going. Jetlag. Malaria pill funk. Homesick. Churny stomach. Use of vacation hours at work. Anguish over the poverty. Heart-sick for the very idea of ORPHAN. Overwhelming truth that nothing I do will fix anything. At all. Skyping my family and watching my kids wipe away tears because they miss me and I miss them so, so much.....do not, for a minute, believe that this is not a costly venture. It's God's idea. It really is. When I pray and ask Him to line up my desires and my will with His.....my love for SCH and the orphans of India, and the director, Sarah....it just grows. SCH is God's passion. I know it. I'm going. Surreal, impractical, excessive. Just like my Lord.
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