I Saw What I Saw

Today is Orphan Sunday... an event hoping to bring awareness to the fact that there are millions of children without a mama and dada to care for them. These kids are living all over the world and also right there in your own town. There is a HUGE need for loving people to step in and care for these kids through adoption, through foster parenting, child sponsorship or by you supporting a family that is or has adopted.

Jesse and I found out this week that we are now #53 on the waiting list to bring home our baby girl from Ethiopia. We started this process in January and are quickly closing in on the end of the 2010. Each step forward makes her feel all the more tangible and real and like bringing her home might be a real possibility. I simply can't wait. My heart might explode.

People often ask why our family was compelled to adopt a child when we have two biological children. There are a ton of reasons but here is one of them. You can't travel to 3rd world countries and not be changed in some way. You can't serve people that are struggling in ways you never imagined possible without leaving a different person. It just changes you. Something inside shifts when you go beyond reading about them and instead see it with your own eyes. You can't visit an orphanage and not think about how much LOVE you have to offer. You do not forget those little crusty eyes or their wet behinds that soaked your shirt while you held them. You do not forget their faces or their tears when you have to put them down and leave. You cannot forget what you know they are up against if they are going to make it. You can't help but think about all of the kids that are still trying to just survive on the streets.

There is a song that I love by a musician that I adore. She is a poet with an angelic voice. I often feel like she is writing what I wish that I could so perfectly communicate. I was going to figure out how to attach her song when I came across this video. Enjoy and be moved.


"I Saw What I Saw" by Sara Groves