soap box...
Once a year or so I find myself unable to resist getting up on a soap box. Today is that day, so if you are only looking for a stamping masterpiece from me today you will have to wait and see if I have time to stamp later today.
Today is National Adoption Day. All across this country thousands of families will finalize the adoptions of their children and this is a wonderful thing. We too had hoped to finalize Ellie's adoption today but were not able to. But as wonderful as this is there are still 130,000 children in this country, freed for adoption but with no permanent families. Let me repeat that number, One Hundred Thirty Thousand children in foster homes, group homes and institutions that want permanent homes with loving families and don't have them. That number should take your breath away. Merely typing it brings tears to my eyes. I'm a foster/adoptive parent and I know some of these children. I have adopted two of them and are in the process of adopting a third but two people can not solve this problem alone. This is a national problem, a bigger problem to these children then the economy or war or who gets elected. The unfortunate reality is that most of these kids are too old, part of a sibling group or too damaged to be "attractive" to most prospective parents. But that doesn't make their desires, their hopes, their dreams and their longing for a forever family any less valid.
My dream for these children is for everyone of them to have a permanent loving home. Every single one of them. The problem is that there isn't enough people that can take them or want to take them or are able to take them. Many of these kids are so damaged by their birth families and what the system has done to them that they are hard to parent. But they still want someone to love them and to be there for them, forever.
What can you do? You can search your hearts and see if there is room for one of these children. Don't feel bad if it just isn't something you feel you can do, it is not for everyone. But there are other things you can do. Could you mentor one of these kids? They all need positive people in there lives. Could you give a helping hand to a family that wants to take on one or more of these children? Is there a family in your church or community that with support from you could take on a child? Could you maybe make this Christmas special for a child that is waiting? Could you remember these children the next time you hug your own? Could you pray?
Today is National Adoption Day. All across this country thousands of families will finalize the adoptions of their children and this is a wonderful thing. We too had hoped to finalize Ellie's adoption today but were not able to. But as wonderful as this is there are still 130,000 children in this country, freed for adoption but with no permanent families. Let me repeat that number, One Hundred Thirty Thousand children in foster homes, group homes and institutions that want permanent homes with loving families and don't have them. That number should take your breath away. Merely typing it brings tears to my eyes. I'm a foster/adoptive parent and I know some of these children. I have adopted two of them and are in the process of adopting a third but two people can not solve this problem alone. This is a national problem, a bigger problem to these children then the economy or war or who gets elected. The unfortunate reality is that most of these kids are too old, part of a sibling group or too damaged to be "attractive" to most prospective parents. But that doesn't make their desires, their hopes, their dreams and their longing for a forever family any less valid.
My dream for these children is for everyone of them to have a permanent loving home. Every single one of them. The problem is that there isn't enough people that can take them or want to take them or are able to take them. Many of these kids are so damaged by their birth families and what the system has done to them that they are hard to parent. But they still want someone to love them and to be there for them, forever.
What can you do? You can search your hearts and see if there is room for one of these children. Don't feel bad if it just isn't something you feel you can do, it is not for everyone. But there are other things you can do. Could you mentor one of these kids? They all need positive people in there lives. Could you give a helping hand to a family that wants to take on one or more of these children? Is there a family in your church or community that with support from you could take on a child? Could you maybe make this Christmas special for a child that is waiting? Could you remember these children the next time you hug your own? Could you pray?
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