Today is November 3rd... November is National Adoption Month and today we celebrate Orphan Sunday. I never want to forget the millions of orphan children all over the world.
November is also a month of giving thanks. So on this 3rd day of November, I am thankful. I am thankful for my Heavenly Father. I'm thankful for my three awesome children. I'm thankful that I get the blessing to share Jesus with them.
This is my sweet Genevieve today. We have another special marker in November, Genevieve's birthday. My sweet girl will be 3! This is her sitting after she kept running away from me... She is so stinkin' cute, even in time out. I just love her. I am thankful God has allowed me to be her momma. Parenting sure isn't for the faint of heart... :)
I also have an incredible burden for the 147 MILLION orphans around the world who have no mom. no dad. no one to call family. It breaks my heart. I am humbled that one day, we will add to our family and help give a child a family. Our child... And what a blessing she will be to us as well...
We had the blessing of having two Hungarian girls come and stay with us this weekend. Our church has a partnership with a school/Baptist Union in Hungry. There were eight teams that were sent out this summer in Hungry to teach English and share God's love. We had a few come to Texas to work out things for next summer and they brought 4 students with them.
We had the two girls, one 7th grader and one 5th grader. We got to talk and share the weekend with them and had a great time, but it wasn't until they left that I found out that one of the girls, (let's call her Juliet) was not living with her step mom as she told us but in foster care. Ugh. I can't get that precious girl out of my mind. After learning her mom just up and left and then her father, my heart aches for that precious, little girl. She doesn't have someone whom she can run to and know that they will always be there. She doesn't have a family to call her own. She is a nine year old girl who needs love. And there are millions just like her.
I will never forget her face. Oh how I wish I would have given her one more hug, one more love or one more encouraging word.. But I do know this... I won't forget. She stayed on my sweet Genevieve's bed to sleep each night and wrapped herself to sleep with Genevieve's blanket. She got cold the first night so she came and found me for another blanket. She played with the boys and ate at our table. But, I wonder will she have a family one day? It grieves my heart. Sweet Juliet...
And yet we know this... He is a father to the Fatherless.
Lord,
Father to the fatherless, we pray that you raise up workers today and throughout National Adoption Month. Bless the efforts of all who are serving the world’s waiting children during this time of focus and advocacy.
