because this life matters!

I have sat typing and deleting this post for hours.  Sometimes the right words, those which adequately express what is in our hearts, are so very hard to find.  I definitely am not the most eloquent person around.  Sometimes words fail me.  For many reasons, this one has been a hard post to write.

“You can’t save ‘em all, you know."  

"You can’t help every child who needs a family.”

We hear it all the time. 

I just smile when people make these comments.  My response is always the same--Yup, I sure do know that I cannot save them all.  That’s God’s job, not mine (whew!).  But I sure can do everything I possibly can to save the life of just one child at a time.

You see, I believe that every child matters.  Every child has worth and inestimable value.  Every child on the planet is created in the image of a God who adores them. I believe that every child is fearfully and wonderfully made—just the way they are.

With all my heart I believe that to be truth.

God has had us on a journey recently.  For weeks we have felt the stirring in our hearts to do more, to be more, to give our lives away more.  We have been ever mindful of the fact that our lives are not our own—that we have been bought with the ultimate price—a Savior who died for us. What a glorious example of surrender was He who knew no sin, but was willing to do the will of His Father!  We have such a long way to go in understanding the magnitude of it all.  We have so far to go in truly knowing what it means to give our everything to God. 

A willing heart.  That’s what God requires of us.  The rest we can leave in His capable hands.

Prompted by the direction the Lord was leading us in, we put our yes on the table.  Not really sure what God was going to do with us or where He would take us.  “Yes” could take us anywhere.  “Yes” meant He could call us to do anything. 

“Yes” simply meant surrender.  No matter what.  No matter where.  No matter how. 

Have your way, Lord Jesus!

Soon after giving the Father our yes, we were presented with a situation. Finding the words to express what I felt the moment I read about it, well…there are none.  Driving in the car and heading out of town that day, I leaned over toward Anthony and said, “There are some things that my human heart cannot fathom.  Sometimes there just are no words.”

Staring at me from the e-mail on my phone was a little sweetheart. 

One with infinite value. 

One created in the image of a loving, gracious, and most merciful God. 

One who had suffered far more than any child I have ever seen or advocated for on my blog.

“How can this even be?”  I asked my husband that day.

We were shocked.  Speechless.

Because sometimes there truly are just no words.

Today I would love to introduce you all to a little lovie whom I will refer to as Faith.

Though there's a date of 1983 on all the photos, it's a camera error.  All photos you will see here were taken just last month.

Faith lives in an orphanage far, far away.  It’s an awful place.  A place where the conditions are so heinous and children are forced to live in unfathomable circumstances.  It's a place where many people are working hard to bring about an awareness and desperately-needed change.  Faith's home is in Pleven.

She has been registered for adoption for YEARS.  But sadly, no one ever came for her.  No one has ever even inquired about adopting her.  She has literally been wasting away in a crib her entire life, which is a lot longer than you can tell from these photos, unbelievably.

Helpless.  Lying in her own waste day in and day out.  Only fed enough to barely keep her alive. A little girl who is so thin that every bone in her body is protruding and who is so frail that it feels like her body will break by just being held.

Completely abandoned!

 Some things are beyond our human comprehension. Sweet Faith is now 14 years old. 

Very sadly, she only weighs 14 pounds!  No, that is not a typographical error. Fourteen pounds! That’s one measly pound for every year that she has lived. 

Oh my goodness!  How is it possible?  How can someone that old weigh that little and still be alive?! Two of my sons were BORN weighing 10 pounds!

Through a series of miracles, my friend Shelley recently met Faith when she visited her orphanage.  Extremely malnourished, with stiff little limbs and atrophied muscles due to lack of movement, teeth which are so rotten they are almost falling out of her mouth, and nothing but skin and bones…the little girl still manages to smile in spite of the atrocities life has dealt her.  How she has managed to hold on for 14 long years in her condition is truly beyond all human understanding.  She is a little fighter, for sure.  God is not done with this angel.  He is still writing the story of her life.

It is only just beginning…

SHE IS NOT FORSAKEN!

Faith’s beautiful miracle is about to unfold!  How can a 14-pound teenage girl last this long?  Is it so astounding that God has sustained this one life for such a time as this?

The God of the universe, the One who called her name, has reached down from heaven and said, “Not this one!”  “For I know the plans I have for this, my daughter.  I will restore unto her everything that the locusts have eaten!”

“I will redeem her life!”

Anthony and I spent the next 36 hours on our knees before our Father in heaven.  Begging, pleading, and interceding for Faith’s life. 

What was our role? 

What was the Lord calling us to do?

Friends, sometimes our answer from heaven is what has already been spoken to our hearts.  Sometimes every rational, well-thought-out reason as to why we should not take one giant leap out of the boat, face the raging sea, and walk toward Jesus with everything we have just feels so completely selfish and pathetic. 

Sometimes we know the answer before we have even inquired of the Lord.

And this time, we did.

"GO!"

The little girl who had captured our hearts, the teeny tiny little angel who lies on the other side of the world waiting for her sweet redemption to come….

SHE’S OUR DAUGHTER!

What a joy it is to finally be able to share with you all, the faithful and amazing readers of my blog, that God has once again chosen to give us one of His most glorious creations—another child to call our own!  The little girl who first captured us so deeply by her sweet smile will soon be our daughter, Lord willing.

There truly are no words to describe how blessed we feel and how we are longing, with all our hearts, to be able to bring her home quickly.  The good news is that we have nearly finished our home study.  We have been working hard on paperwork.  Faith’s government realizes the urgency of her situation and has agreed to expedite the process and we are begging every government official here to help us get through the stateside part of the clearances as fast as is humanly possible.  Obviously there is no time to waste.  We are sure that Faith has cerebral palsy.  But what other issues she may have which are undiagnosed, we have no idea. 

We're not concerned what’s "wrong" with her.  We're not concerned about her profound delays or her inability to even sit up on her own.  We're not concerned that her lifespan could very well be severely shortened from years and years of sheer neglect and starvation! 

WE DON’T CARE!

We love HER.  We want HER. 

JUST THE WAY SHE IS.

Do we realize that the journey is going to be hard?  That it could possibly be the hardest thing we have ever had to do?  YES!  We know.  And we’re excited!  We cannot wait to hold this teeny, tiny angel and let her know that she is loved and cherished beyond words.  We cannot wait to help her become all who God has created her to be—no matter how that looks.  Whether she walks or is wheelchair-bound for the rest of her life.  Whether she learns to speak, or never utters a single word.  Whether she learns how to love us back—or is completely unable to express herself.  So be it! 

We will love her with every ounce of our being every day that the LORD sustains her on this earth.  For every day that she has breath, she will know that she is LOVED beyond description.  Because she deserves to live and to be loved.

You know, if I had to choose the road which is easy—the one that never stretches nor challenges my faith—or the road where I am forced to rely so heavily on my Jesus...that’s the one I want!  Every time.

Obviously this is a huge leap of faith for our family.  We have three biological and four adopted children, and God has provided faithfully each and every time.  We know that this time is no different.  He WILL provide.  Only this time we need to raise the RANSOM in a hurry.  With the process being expedited, we don’t have months on end to do the fundraisers we usually do for our adoptions. 

This time there is precious little time.

If you would like to read Shelley’s account of her meeting Faith for the first time, you can read it here.  It is truly moving.  We are so, so thankful to this precious woman of God whom He has used to be Faith’s voice.