"too much beds"

News alert:  the twins confirmed orphanages suck (excuse my language)

they told us that they would cry every night and then the other kids would cry too- the staff would come in and tell them that it's ok and to stop crying-
but they said they kept crying,
they told us that after they met us on our 1st trip they didnt cry at night anymore, they slept with their photo books that we gave them and they would pray that we would hurry up and come back to get them. 

 My jaw dropped at hearing them tell us these things but theres more...

I know I have written about how our 4 year old daughter begged us to go "get more kids" when she came home from 4 years of orphanage life in India, "they dont have a mommy or daddy!"

Well, if you told me that I would have a similar conversation w/ my 11 year old twins who grew up in rural Africa in a family- and have only lived in an orphanage for several months...I would not have believed you.

BUT-coming home w/ NO English...2 MONTHS later I found myself laying in one of their beds at night in disbelief at what Im hearing:

"Mommy, me and Jerusalem and Sova- we (can) share 1 bed...Jacob and Caleb- (can) share 1 bed...THEN... 3 more beds!!! We get more kids...too much beds...too much...house too big...mommy and daddy adopt again...yes, good. Me big, me adopt too!"

Ummm...what do we say to that?

"well, honey, the typical US household has 2.5 kids and we dont want to look too weird." (Oh yeah, too late for that ;)

Anyways-Im trying to stall their inquiries while I rally the troops around me :)

 

Once again I'm finding myself praying not only to heal their broken orphan hearts-but to PRESERVE their compassion- there's just some things too precious to try to forget.

  People say adoption is too expensive but don't think twice about taking out a $16,000 Car loan.

Yes...we need cars.  That would rank high on my list. 

But children need families.  They should not have to grow up in institutions or on the streets.

 

Do you know that there are 0% interest adoption loans available?  Personaly I believe God will just provide the funds when you put in a little bit of effort but if you are OK with financing a car...would you ever consider financing an adoption?

 

There are also countless grants available- that actually give money- we were granted $3500 when they thought we were going to adopt 1 baby!  (should have sent the application in when we new about the twins ;)

 

Below are 2 excerpts from the book,

 'Orphanology: Awakening to Gospel-Centered Adoption and Orphan Care" by Tony Merida and Rick Morton

"The task is huge and daunting.  There is no easy answers to the worlds orphan crisis.  We must not be paralyzed by the size of the challange.  We must focus on the power of God, as He is our challange giver.  He, not the sad state of human failing, has given us this challange, and He will supply our needs.  Just as we recognize that our adoption in Christ was not plan B in God's working out of His plan for redemption, we must take comfort that God's plan for caring for the fatherless is not just His way of dealing with a social problem.  It is the gospel on display in our lives.  Living out James 1:27 in our present context calls upon the body of Christ to discover a multifaceted approach to visiting and caring for the orphan."

Where to start:

-the internet
we did a search on adoption agencies- went on a yahoo group about picking an adoption agency- picked about 10 that looked good- sent away for their free packets on their websites

once the packets pile in you probrably cant go back.  Some come w/ dvd's that make your husband cry and want to sell your wedding rings

we higlighed programs that interested us and crossed out the agencies who's prices were a bit higher than others...basically thats how we chose our agencies-

Then you take a deep breathe,  sign the papers, ignore the fact that you see lots of numbers following that dollar sign when you really have no money and Pray.  Than grab His hand tight and hold on...

When it's over and the child whose picture was on your fridge for a year is wearing that cute outfit that was on the hanger for a year...you wonder how in the world that happened and still fathom at God's goodnes.