Tigist was recently invited to a tea party hosted by one of her friends at church. The night before we sat down and painted our nails and talked about how fun it was going to be to dress up fancy and drink tea from beautiful dishes.
After I put her to bed, I couldn’t help but tear up at the thought that only a year ago she was still living in an orphanage in Ethiopia. Alone, with no mother or father. There were no special dresses or parties to go to. It made me ponder again the beauty of adoption and the difference it can make. Having Fikadu and Tigist in our family has brought such incredible joy this past 10 months. I can’t help but think about which children are currently in an orphanage right now that may be gathering around our dinner table a year or so from now.
I also want to ask a question for those who haven’t given to caring for orphans or adopted. What were you and your children doing a year ago? Perhaps you were preparing for the holidays? Filling out wish lists? While silent children slept alone in orphanages across the world. Its so easy to not think about when its not in front of you everyday.
November is National Adoption Month and I want to encourage you to think about what role you might be able to play in either caring for, or providing a home to one of the 143,000,000 orphans in the world. Who knows, maybe one or two of them could be enjoying tea parties this time next year!
3 Comments
November 13, 2009 at 3:36 am
Those are the CUTEST pictures!
The lead staff at my church is currently in Uganda working with Samaritan’s Purse and recording video AND a sermon by our Pastor done in Africa as a part of our upcoming Christmas series, Kingdom Come – all about countercultural giving this year. It’s amazing seeing their “tweets” and the pictures they post.
I’m excited for this next step you all are taking together!
November 13, 2009 at 6:46 am
The pictures are wonderful and tea parties are the best. We are praying for you as your prepare to add more blessings to your family.
November 14, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Hmmm…is it possible that you’ll adopt siblings again? Congratulations on your growing family. Sounds like you’ve got two blessed kids there.