On most weeknights, my routine following putting the boys to bed stays pretty consistent. I find my favorite spot on the couch and settle in for The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity. While I watch the fair and balanced news coverage that Fox News offers, I also fire up the laptop surf the Internet.
Most nights come and go without reading anything earth shattering, but there are nights when I come across something that stops me in my tracks. One of those nights happened last week. Sara was taking a look at the Internet, which usually means she was reading her favorite blogs while endlessly checking her email in hopes that an email will pop up with information about Baby Sister, when she called me upstairs to read the story of an orphanage that recently opened not too far from the village that Parker grew up in.
The story of this orphanage is remarkable, heart wrenching, eye opening, and extremely saddening at the same time.
www.drawnfromwater.org/the-story
My initial reaction the story was disbelief, but at the same time, I was thankful that there are people in this world who are willing and able to make a difference in these children's lives, lives that would otherwise be lost. The people that left behind the lives that they led in the United States in order to save the lives of these children are truly heroes.
It's stories like this that make me so thankful to have my boys, but these stories also solidify my yearning to find a way to make a difference in the lives of people that Parker left behind. I have thought long and hard about various ways to give back and have come up with goals that are hopefully achievable.
Success won't come easily, as our plans are ambitious, but reading about those that have taken on much greater odds and been successful in making a difference gives Sara and I something to draw from as we continue to think of ways to turn our ambitions into reality.
Jeff and I are with CCI as well. We brought home our daughter Ellie in August. We too have been forever changed because of our experience in Ethiopia. We have seen too much to sit back and not do more. We've been in prayer since coming home of how we can give back, do more, make a difference.. whatever you want to call it. We are partnering wtih Edge Outreach to help provide clean water to those who do not have access, since Ellie came home with 5 parasites.
ReplyDeleteI'll be in prayer for you all as you search for where God would have you be active and waht you will do. Blessings on all of you today and everyday!