Exciting Weekend

It's been a fun and busy weekend. Teresa and I were privileged to take a seminar on adopting older kids- as I mentioned in the previous post about the date.

What a great time it was learning and spending time with others who are in the process of adopting, albeit much farther along than we are. We met 2 families that are adopting 2 boys each from Ethiopia. 1 family has 2 biological daughters who are grown and out of the house and this is their first adoption; they are very close to bringing their 2 boys, 6&8, home. The other couple has a grown daughter, 22, and they tried to have more children for 12 years. They were not able, and so they adopted domestically and very soon after that they conceived- so now they had 3. They then were drawn to adopt 3 more kids domestically, and so they did. Now they are in the middle of their first international adoption. So they will have 8, but "only" 7 will be at home all the time.

We met the director of Kingdom Kids; they have 12 kids, 3 bio and 9 adopted. What a sweet family. We met a family that has 12 adopted. I asked them both how they were able to pull all this off, since each one is so expensive. It seems that they all say about the same thing. "Well, we're certainly not rich, but we evaluated our life and decided this is a way that we can help to change lives and so we just dove in. We often get to the end of the process and are not really sure how it was entirely paid for, as often we are not exactly sure where all the money came from".

We, as Americans, have a great privilege, responsibility and opportunity to change lives by some sacrifice on our part. I think in the end many people would say that it is not actually a sacrifice for them and much as a blessing. I watched a family of 12 kids, most of which are excited about their siblings, talk and hang out. They have such a large world view compared to most people. The kid's perspective on life and possessions is so much different that most American people. How would they ever come to this conclusion if they were like every other family? They probably would not.

Think about having a brother from India, a sister from China, 2 brothers from America, a sister from Russia, and 6 brothers and sisters from Ethiopia. They came from so many different places and with so many different cultures. Sure, there will be issues, but what an opportunity to bring the world to your family. What an opportunity to share in our abundance with those who have so little, and in the sharing comes the great blessing of knowing we are helping these young people become adults who are ready to make a difference in the world.

The oldest boy of the family with 9 adopted, is a bio. He is 24 and has spent 15 months in Ethiopia. He has returned tot he States to earn his masters degree and wants to then return to Ethiopia to stay and help the people of the villages. He is not looking to use his masters to create a giant bank account for himself, rather he wants to help others. There are so many others who would like to do something similar.

If we are not willing, or in a place to go, then we should adopt. If we are not willing, or in a place to adopt, then we should be willing to support. If we are not willing to support, then we should be evaluating our lives. We can all do something to help. $50 can buy a goat to give milk to a family. $50 really can change their whole world. I am not sure of the cost of a donkey in Ethiopia, but we were told "When you hand the rope, tied around the neck of a donkey, to a man in a village, this is like giving the keys to a new car to someone in America".

What can we do? I think first off, we need to start to look at our lives differently and decide what we can do without. We have so much abundance and there are so man who have such desperate need. The way we are able to help will look different for each one of us, and that is great, because the needs are so diverse; but let's start finding out the needs and meeting them.

God has blessed America so much. We should be thankful for that blessing and willing to share the blessings with other people around the world.