Most of you will likely pretend you never saw this post, because it’s kind of an uncomfortable topic for lots of people. But I’m going to say it anyway. Recently, Nathan and I began praying that God will break our hearts for the things that break His. And He is. Our hearts have been heavy for orphans for some time now and the burden is not getting lighter. Literally millions of kids all over this world will go to sleep tonight without a momma and daddy to tuck them in or give them a kiss goodnight. When I look at my Libby, Caleb & Sara sleeping peacefully in their warm beds each night, I frequently wonder why we are the blessed ones. What if that was my child crying, cold, hungry, abandoned? Wouldn’t I be on the first plane out to get to my babies if I knew they were all alone in some other city in the world? Wouldn’t I spend everything I had? Wouldn’t I do anything to get them back? And if I simply couldn’t rescue them, wouldn’t I pray, pray, pray that someone else would go for me?
Christmas is the time of year that we celebrate God sending His son Jesus to be the ransom for sinful humanity. In a spiritual sense, we are all orphans wallowing in our own filth, abused, cold, sick, and dying alone. But God has compassion on us, even while we are still pathetic, squalling, unlovely orphans. He offers us adoption, a chance to become a beloved part of His very own family. He was willing to sacrifice that which was most dear to Him, His only son, to ransom us from our sinful state. If adoption is that important to God, shouldn’t it also be that important to me?
Libby’s Sunday School Christmas program this year has been particularly moving for me. The words to one of the songs the kids sang were “I’ve been blessed to be a blessing. I’ve received so I can give. And I must tell the world what God has done, ‘cause I’ve been blessed to bless someone.” The chorus to the last song they sang says, “Carry your candle. Run to the darkness. Seek out the hopeless, confused and torn. Hold out your candle for all to see it. Take your candle, and go light your world.” As many times as I have heard these same songs rehearsed over the past 3 months, they never fail to get my attention.
There are two families we know who are at this moment going through the final steps to bring four precious children home from orphanages in another country. God willing, they will all be home soon to celebrate their very first Christmas together. These families are a light to the world by sharing the blessings they have received, and mirroring God’s unconditional love for us to their new children. 
Obviously, not everyone is called to adopt, but we are all called to serve. For years now, we have been praying that God would open the doors so we can adopt. While we wait, we’re looking for ways to help orphans and families who are adopting. Just last week, our church deacons gave us their blessing to organize an orphan/adoption ministry in our church. We’re nervous and excited about the opportunity, and we’re praying for God’s leading. As crazy as it may be to run with candles, we’re sprinting for those lost in that darkness. I have a feeling we won’t need to look very far. . .
“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…" James 1:27
Tons of presents for one very happy little four year old! Thank you Grandma and Papa, Uncle Zack, Uncle Josh, Uncle Danny and Aunt JoyC for making this little guy's day!
On Monday I worked someone else's shift in the morning at the vet and came home just after noon to go over Libby's kindergarten books with her for the day. I had just started on making dinner - a nice roast beef - when I noticed that Pepsi the dog was desperately asking to go outside. I took her out. Then I took her out again. And again. Every few minutes she would jump up and beg to go out. Finally, she threw up a big tummy full of dog food. I thought she should feel better, but after drinking a bowl of water, she began to litteraly swell up before my eyes. She threw up more food on the kitchen floor and then downed another bowl of water. Karrie came over to watch the kids for me until Nathan got home, while I rushed Pepsi back to the vet to have her examined. Dr. Bob graciously waited for me to arrive and then took an x-ray of Pepsi's belly. Turns out she had the biggest stomach any of us at work have ever seen on an x-ray - like a basketball/watermelon/beachball. Dr. Bob induced vomiting and Pepsi duly vomited - 10 times (not including the quart of food she vomited in the van). We weighed her on the way in at 62.4 lbs. On the way out, she weighed 56.3 lbs. When I got home with her late Monday night, we discoved that she had helped herself to the big bag of dog food in the basment and had eaten over 6 lbs of food that day. What a pig!
Tuesday was a little quieter thankfully. I worked some on laundry and housework, but Caleb and Sara were fussy and coming down with a cold. Nathan and I started back on our P90X workout again that evening. We were exhausted and fell into bed and immediately to sleep.
Wednesday, was another crazy busy day at work. I also received an email from a Siberian cat breeder in Russia about a kitten that is available. We have been trying to find a new female to add to our "cattery" for almost a year now with no luck. The person who was originally going to buy this kitten fell through and I was next on the list if I was interested. I emailed back that, Yes! I am interested.
Thursday was another crazy day at home. It started out with a lot of promise and the sun was shining to boot! I took all three kiddoes to the grocery store with me. They were all so good! I praised them all the way home. Then Libby played in the van with Sara while I unloaded groceries. When it was time for her to come in the house when I had finished, she slipped on the ice in the driveway and smacked her head on the van floorboard. The hit was incredibly loud and was immediately followed by her screaming. It took some time for her to calm down. By then there was a nice egg on the back of her head. Thankfully, she showed no signs of a concussion. Libby's new Bun-bun from ebay had just come in the mail, so that helped to distract her. Later in the afternoon, I was getting dinner ready in the kitchen and stopped to pet Petunia on the way by. I noticed that her top right canine tooth was broken off, so another call to the vet. I scheduled her for an exam on Friday. After dinner, Libby finally finished the very last lesson in her reading book! She was so proud of herself and we are too! Nathan and I did another torture, er exercise, session of P90X and went to bed. 
Friday morning was also sunny, but cold. I took Petunia to work with me for her exam. Dr. Mark thought he may be able to save her tooth and decided to fix it that same afternoon. When he got her knocked out and really started poking around in her mouth, he discovered that the tooth was too badly damaged to keep and pulled it. He also found 2 smaller teeth that needed pulled. They saved her teeth for me in a little bottle to show to the kids at home. After a very busy day at work, I went home to find out that Libby has her first loose tooth! She is really excited and can't wait until the tooth fairy pays her a visit sometime soon.
So, Sunday is here again. We are again visiting with Mom and Dad R and hoping for a much quieter week this time. You may notice that Caleb was barely mentioned in this post. That is because he has been incident free this week.I'm getting a little worried about what happens when it's his turn to get into trouble. Yikes! Keeping my fingers crossed for a week of calm and relaxation. . . Ha ha! 
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