HIV / AIDS

Definition(by Mayo Clinic) :AIDS is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). By damaging your immune system, HIV interferes with your body's ability to fight the organisms that cause disease. HIV is a sexually transmitted disease. It can also be spread by contact with infected blood, or from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breast-feeding. It can take years before HIV weakens your immune system to the point that you have AIDS. There's no cure for HIV/AIDS, but there are medications that can dramatically slow the progression of the disease. These drugs have reduced AIDS deaths in many developed nations. But HIV continues to decimate populations in Africa, Haiti and parts of Asia.

I grew up in Indiana, and one of my first memories in regards to the emergence of AIDS in the United States was the Ryan White story. As time went on, I remember the media frenzy surrounding other well known individuals such as Greg Louganis and Magic Johnson who had contracted the disease.  It even became personal to me as I had a first cousin with hemophilia who contracted the disease through a blood transfusion at 6 months of age.  The one thing that the individuals referred to above have in common is that they all live in America; therefore, they had access to some of the best medicines and health care in the world.  The disease could not be cured, but in most cases the lifespan was greatly lengthened. While I am aware that there are still many new cases of this disease in our country, we don’t hear the media ‘buzz’ about it like we used to.

Unfortunately, HIV/AIDS is virtually an instant death sentence and a social pandemic for those who live in the world’s poorest countries.  In the past year, I have read the book “The Hole in Our Gospel” by Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision.  This amazing book sheds a new light on the social injustices in our world, and encourages Christians to fulfill our responsibility to act as change agents.  As I have a passion for orphan care, my heart broke as I read the chapter discussing HIV/AIDs and the impact it has had on our world.  Here is an excerpt from his book:

Perhaps the most disturbing fact of all is that AIDS has now left 15 million children behind as orphans.  Again, this is a number that is incomprehensible.  Picture a chain of children holding hands and stretching out across America.  This chain, starting in New York, would stretch all the way to Seattle, back to Philadelphia, back to San Francisco, then east to Washington DC, back again to Los Angeles, and finally to about Kansas City – more than five and a half times across the United States! Do you now see why I have called HIV a “doomsday virus”?  These are the grim statistics of AIDS, but they do not tell the story of the men, women, and children whose lives have been destroyed.  In Africa they say that when it comes to HIV, everyone is either infected or affected – no one escapes completely

Now that we are made aware, I don’t think we can turn a blind eye and pretend this doesn’t exist.  So what can we do? I don’t think there has ever been a time more appropriate than now to bring us to our knees in prayer for these children orphaned by this terrible disease.  Another way we can respond is through supporting the HIV/AIDS initiatives of Christian organizations like World Vision or Compassion International who are working to supply the resources needed to both prevent new cases and provide care and treatment to those living with the virus, as well as care for affected orphans and vulnerable children.  Finally, for those of you considering adoption, you can pray about whether God is leading you to open your parameters to include children affected by this disease.

"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

Transracial adoption

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

There are many opinions regarding adopting transracially/transculturally. This topic comes up quite frequently among adoption seekers as they are trying to make some significant decisions in not only their life but the life of their future child. I remember as my husband and I were praying about adopting a child and being open to any race. Although, we felt confident God had a plan for our family that was far better than ours, it was a very scary journey. Probably the scariest part to overcome was feeling ill-equipped to parent a child of a race different from our own. I had to find peace with the fact that there will be some things in this life I cannot fully understand nor be able to impart upon my daughters in regards to their culture and ethnicity. Yes, we belong together as a family in every way possible and though we may not share a racial heritage, we do share the deep rooted love of family. Being different racially doesn’t in any way invalidate us as a family. But we must acknowledge there will come a time as our children begin to appreciate their identity separate from ours that they may also feel the need to belong to their birth culture. We plan to do our very best in helping them to achieve this while recognizing we have limitations. Gail Steinberg and Beth Hall describe this wonderfully in their book Inside Transracial Adoption, “So when you can’t be the direct provider of culture, be a bridge to the culture your child needs to be part of. Please don’t feel discouraged by his participation in a culture that does not include you. The connecting links you can forge will not only support him, but will expand your family life in ways that will continue to unfold throughout your lives. Nothing could be more positive.”

Here are a few books I found helpful in regards to this topic. Some are specifically geared to prepare you for certain issues you may face as a transracial family and others offer suggestions for helping your children develop racial/cultural pride.

· Inside Transracial Adoption by Gail Steinberg and Beth Hall

· In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories by Rita Simon & Rhonda Roorda

· I’m Chocolate, You’re Vanilla by Marguerite A. Wright

· Adopted For Life by Russel Moore

What have you been asked to do?

"Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." James 4:17

This is a humbling verse. It is very difficult to read these words and then not begin to think of things in your life that you feel the Lord tugging at you about and then simply NOT do it.

There are discussions and books about the calling of the Lord and they are all well and good, but the truth of the matter is we must be DOING what the Lord asks of us.

This past weekend, my family and I went on a little trip to the Smoky Mountains. We hadn't been since our first daughter was a baby and we wanted to take both girls this time. While we were there we experienced the normal awkward looks and little comments about our beautiful trans-racial family. This time, however, it truly didn't cause me to become upset. I felt the most incredible peace as I walked around...knowing that our family had done what the Lord had asked and we continue to strive to do so.

I believe that at this point in my life I have figured out that God will instruct us to follow Him and at times that means people don't agree with your choices, they don't understand the dynamics of your family, they don't like what they see...but our purpose isn't to please others--we are meant to please an audience of One. It is a sin not to.

We have one life here on earth and one opportunity to do all we do for His kingdom and personally for our family that includes adopting those that He finds most precious.

When you do go on the path less traveled and do what God calls for your family He opens up doors to talk to people wherever you are. While my husband was shopping for new shades the girls and I sat outside on a bench next to a woman who bluntly said, "Did you adopt them?" I responded with a simple, "Yes". She began asking why we adopted a black and bi-racial child...so I simply told her that the Lord had called us to adopt and He placed these girls into our hands and that we have been blessed far greater than we could imagine. I was able to talk to her about The 1:27 Call and our ministry to care for orphans and what the Lord is doing and going to do for other families on the adoption journey because of six families that are doing what the Lord asked of them. She made a few remarks but the point is that I got to share my Jesus...with this woman on the Gatlinburg strip all because of my two little conversation starters I call my daughters.

The Lord asks us to do things we don't always understand and we are taken out of our comfort zone many times when we go through the adoption process...but the beauty held within is more than I can put into words.

So, what is Jesus asking you to do? When you do what He asks...He blesses more than you can fathom.

Heavenly Treasures

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

I have read these words a thousand times, and the truth they hold is powerful. Recently, though, they took on new meaning when I read these words...

"Thank you for choosing me as your child. God bless you."

"Pray for me to grow up, please."

"I love you so much. May God bless you."

"Pray for my education, health, and family."

These words were written by my children...children I have never met, yet they are part of my heart. These are words from 2 of the Ethiopian children that our family sponsors through an organization that helps 1.2 million children around the world. Children that, without a sponsor, are at high risk of being orphaned, if not by the death of a parent, by poverty. These children had been waiting over 6 months to be sponsored.

6 months.

That is too long when you are nine years old.

Young children are sponsored more quickly because the sponsors like being able to have a relationship with them from their early years...or maybe it is because they are "cuter" when they are three. But older children wait many months and their families become desperate for help, often trying to raise several children on less than 30 dollars per month. When these older children finally receive word that they have been chosen, they and their families rejoice from the depths of their spirits!

There are estimated to be 147 million orphans in the world...5 million in Ethiopia alone. BUT there are 2.1 billion Christians in the world. If only a small percentage sponsored or adopted one child it would, in essence, eradicate the orphan crisis.

We are the body of Christ. For a small amount, usually around thirty dollars per month, we can be the hands and feet of Jesus and change the direction of a child's life for eternity. Go online, look up the organizations that are available and on the ground in poverty stricken countries around the world. Pray for the Lord to show you His heart for these children and take that step to build a bridge to those little hearts.

One day soon we will seize the opportunity to travel to Africa again, this time not to bring home an orphaned child, but to meet our children who have been spared the orphanage and are thriving in the knowledge of Jesus' love for them...and the knowledge that there is a family far away who loves them and prays for them.

That is what I call a heavenly treasure!

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

This past April, we had the opportunity to witness one of God’s little miracles unfold right outside the bay window in our dining room.  One day, we noticed a bird’s nest with eggs in it atop some of our shrubs.  In the days following, it became a bit of an obsession to track the progress of these birds to be.  My husband and I truly enjoyed the excitement of our two year old son as he did his daily ‘check’ on the nest.   We were able to capture some pictures of the transformation:

 

As we watched the transformation from an egg to a living, breathing bird, I was acutely aware of how much God cares for His creation.  After it hatched, that baby bird’s every need was met.  His mother protected him in the storms by sitting upon his nest, and his father would sound an alarm if any threat of danger was near.  His father also faithfully brought food to the nest so the bird would be well nourished.  Over a period of about two weeks, the bird continued to grow and develop until it was strong enough to fly away. 

As I witnessed this miracle, it brought me a sense of a peace.  You see, my husband and I are currently in the midst of our 2nd international adoption.  We are on a waitlist for a precious little girl in Ethiopia about whom we have no information yet are completely in love with her.  Seeing how much God cared for that baby bird reminded me just how precious life is to our Creator.  If He was willing to go to that length to ensure that bird’s needs were met, how can I not trust that He holds our daughter in His perfect wings of protection.  During those two weeks, the words from a hymn I truly love kept coming to mind:

“His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me”

I am not saying the wait is easy, but it is comforting to know that my daughter is well taken care of until she is forever home in our family.  To those of you who are waiting for that precious child/children that God has hand picked for your family, may you be encouraged by the little miracles that remind you God is in control and therefore, we can put our worries to rest.

²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.^{[a] 30} And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.  Matthew 10: 29-31