Damage done

Sick. That's how I feel right now.

There was a 7-year-old Russian boy adopted by a Tennessee woman who kept him for 6 months and then RETURNED him. She says he had psych issues. You think?! The kid has grown up in an orphanage on the other side of the world all alone!

The story says that she's a single woman who just "so desperately wanted a family" that she adopted an older child from a foreign country. I guess she expected him to be one of the Brady bunch kids and show up perfectly rounded and well adjusted. International adoption can cost upwards of $30,000 and MONTHS of paperwork and red tape. People wait YEARS to adopt and get through it all. You would think someone who is willing to put all this in would do SOME research. This is pretty much the most publicized thing out there when it comes to the adoption of older children. THEY HAVE ISSUES!

The problem here is that people make a distinction between a biological child and an adopted child. There is none. When you adopt a child, they are absolutely as much a part of your family as those children you gave birth to. I want to know why people aren't COMPLETELY outraged like they would be had she sent a 7-year-old biological child around the world with a one-way ticket. I want to know why she isn't rotting in jail. She's done SO much damage. Not only to that poor boy but to THOUSANDS of families trying to adopt internationally.

Now, I realize that this is a sensitive issue for myself and I may be flying off the handle. Someone needs to fly off the handle for this poor boy! God calls Christians to care for the orphans. I know that I am particularly called to do so. I cannot WAIT until I can adopt, but all in God's perfect timing. Until then all I can do is raise awareness for good Christian people to take in these kids and give them a home and a family. DO IT!

Easter

Easter is always a holiday I look forward to. Not only is it a time when we all get to dress up and color eggs, it's a time to talk to my kids about the awesome gift that God gave in his son, Jesus Christ. What's even better is that my 4-year-old initiated this conversation:

Noah - "Mom, those bad people stuck Jesus on a big heavy cross."
Me - "They sure did, Honey."
Noah - "And they put NAILS in his hands and in his feet!"
Me - "Yes, they did."
Noah- "They killed him, didn't they, Mom?"
Me - "Yes they did."
Noah - "Mom?"
Me - "Yes?"
Noah - "Are you crying?"
Me - "It just makes me sad that they did that to my Jesus because I love him so much."
Noah - ::gets excited:: "It's okay, Mom! Jesus came back to life! He didn't stay dead! He's alive!"

I don't know if I've ever smiled that big in my life and I know I've never been more proud.