One in 3/4 of a Million

I still get asked "Why China" from time to time. Over the year we have learned a lot and everything we have learned has only affirmed that we are on the right track.

While filling out our I-800 application for immigration we had to list the orphanage that Grace is from. Currently she's in the care of a foster home, but technically her orphanage has custody of her. I was advised to look at this site: www.blessedkids.com for the address. We were given its name on her referral documents.

Click on that link for blessed kids and scroll down. Keep scrolling. What you see there broke my heart all over again for China. You'll find hundreds of links. Those are all orphanages. Some are small, some are 14 and 15 stories high. Most are full.

Most are full.

They are full of little girls and little boys. Some with minor special needs like a strange birthmark or a cleft lip or palate. Others have serious but repairable defects like our baby. Some have no known health concerns and were born to a family that already had a child or two, or they were just unplanned or inconvenient, or illegal.

I had heard such things. Legends, if you will, of what it's like in China and assumed that there were bits of truth here and there but also a good amount of exaggeration as most legends tend to contain. Then I watched a message given by someone who has been there and has seen with their own eyes what these places are like. If you don't want to watch the whole message (and I recommend the whole message) skip ahead to about 18 minutes in. There he tells of the rows and rows of cribs in this multi-story orphanage. He talks a bit about the challenge of even feeding all of the children there twice a day, never mind holding them or touching them and meeting basic needs that we in America don't think twice about.

I asked google how many orphans were in China. The best answer I could come up with is that a few years ago there was reported to be 712,000 and that growth of that number was 24%. So I did a little math. IF the 712, 000 number was accurate (and most believe it is lower than accurate because the actual number is too embarrassing to report), and we factor in 24% growth  we are at around 750,000 - 3/4 of a million children.

Waiting children (children with minor to moderate special needs) amount to 2000-3000 children who are registered with the CCCWA (not all are registered). They are so often passed over because Americans want a child that looks like them, is healthy, and newly born.

How's your stomach? How's your heart...

When we began this search for our little one we did so knowing the odds, trusting and praying that God would lead us to our daughter. Looking back on this journey there are God's fingerprints and footprints all over our story. In a blog post viewed by hundreds, maybe thousands, we saw her face and read about her and hoped for her knowing that it literally is like finding a needle in a haystack that she would be our referral. There was no "special requesting" her, believe me - I tried - but she wasn't on that database of 2000+ children in July when we first saw her face and our dossier paperwork was 5 months away from being sent to China. Within a week of our dossier being sent, her file appeared on the database at the same time that our caseworker was looking over new files online. She didn't remember her or my inquiry in July. She saw her age, her health conditions, and her precious little face and thought of us, and locked her file believing that we would love her.

We already loved her...

There's nothing extraordinary about us. Nothing magical about our family. People say "It's such a nice thing you're doing"..."You are really good people".

We really aren't. We have moments of goodness but only because there is an almighty God writing our story and working all things together for good because He has a purpose for us. He has a purpose for Grace. All we did was say "I will".

"I will" take a step of faith and use the love we have in our family and add another member because we can do this and because we believe that God will carry us and provide.

So many people say "gosh I would do that if I could". You can.
So many people say "gosh I would love to do that if I had the money". We didn't have the money, but God knew that and He provided beyond what we hoped or imagined.

The truth is, God is writing each of us a story. A choose your own adventure, story. We choose - He wants authentic love from us and unless we have a choice - it's not real love, is it? He doesn't ask everyone to adopt. He doesn't put China on the heart of everyone who wants to adopt. There are lots of other countries including our own. It's your story, but make no mistake - He's the author.

If you think that God is writing a story for your family that includes adoption, may I encourage you:
Say "I will".

If He's not but you feel a desire to help the left behind and the fatherless and those who are caring for them all over the world, may I encourage you to say "I will" and click on the links above on the right for two excellent ways to do just that.

Grace is one in 3/4 of a million. It's one less orphan. There are thousands more. There are hundreds more just today.

You can make a difference - and believe me, the difference will be manifested in your life too.