We've bought our last presents. We've picked up all our laundry. We've had our last lunch in Guangzhou. After nap it will be time to get down to The Packing - yuck. The only thing worse than packing to come to China, is packing to go home. We've got three suitcases, and they better weigh less than 44 pounds each when we check them in in the morning, thankyouverymuch.
But we'll worry about that after nap...right now I'm thinking back over the past two weeks. About the miracle that Jas and I've seen unfold right. before. our. eyes. Look at this picture Jas took this morning:
It is my favorite picture from our trip.
A precious little girl...holding on tight to her mama's neck...showing off her new silly trick - comfortable enough to shut her eyes tight even though she knows her mama and baba want her eyes open.
This is the precious girl that I was so excited - yet so nervous - to meet??? Two days before we left for China, I cried on the phone to a friend about how nervous I was – Would she like us? How would she attach to us? How could she ever adjust to such a huge change in her life?
And what about her special needs? She has a urological issue that we need to see about once we're home. Her first appointment with a specialist is one week after we get back.
Medicine every day for the rest of her life? A possibility
Surgery(ies) ? A probability
Have we fallen head over heels, and are already blessed beyond measure? Absolutely!
Zibing is so....well, ours now. She has started taking us for granted. She takes for granted that she can slip her hand into mine. She takes for granted that it's o.k. to jump on daddy when he's on the floor. She takes for granted that she can crawl into my lap anytime she wants. She takes for granted that we'll help her brush her teeth...that we'll peel her tangerine...help put her straw in her milk carton...read books to her at bedtime...and kiss her sweet lips goodnight...
Shouldn't every child be able to take those things for granted?
Yes! But 147 million children in the world can't...and that breaks my heart. And I'm glad it does...because it breaks God's heart too.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...” (James 1:27)
“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families.” (Ps. 68:5-6)
“Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.” (Isaiah 1:17)
If the Lord is tugging at your heart strings to care for orphans, listen. Obey.
That may mean adoption. Or, it could mean helping someone else adopt (2/3 of people have considered adoption, but only 1% have done it...usually because of money). Join God in His concern for “the least of these”...it's an investment that has returns for eternity, but also in the here and now.
People are all the time telling us that our children are “so lucky/blessed.” But I'll let you in on a secret, we're the ones who are blessed!
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