Broken

First, please pray for LYLA AND HER FAMILY as they recently received news that the daughter they are hoping to adopt is very sick and in the hospital in Eastern Europe. In fact, they don't even know if she will make it and will likely not hear anything until Monday at the earliest. My heart breaks for them and for Lyla. I can't imagine getting this type of news while we were waiting to go meet Zoya. To the Spitz family, Lyla      IS ALREADY their daughter, even though they've never met. Imagine your child being very very sick and you are thousands of miles away and not able to do a thing. I can't imagine their pain and sadness and fear, all while trying to trust that God can see the big picture even when we can't. Please pray for health for Lyla if it is not too late. Please pray for peace for the Spitz family between now and the time they get an update on Lyla's status.

We are living in such a broken world with sadness I wish I could fix. It is so UNFAIR that these millions of orphans are even orphans in the first place.  It is even more unfair that some of them live their entire short lives never knowing what it feels like to be loved...never knowing what it feels like to be rocked to sleep by their momma....never knowing what it feels like to be scooped up in their Daddy's strong arms and snuggled under his chin. It is enough on days like today to deflate my tires and keep me from moving forward at all. I saw what I saw and I can't forget it. What we experienced has forever changed our hearts. The smells remain in my nose and the sounds I will not soon forget. The faces of the children are forever burned into my mind. Time does not fade their faces, nor does it fade the smells or sounds.  Time has not blurred the images as I had selfishly wished it would. This is a broken world. You want to know how broken? Look HERE to see just how broken. All of these children were listed with Reece's Rainbow and have since passed away...without ever experiencing a family to call their own. Their lives were likely filled with pain and sickness and loneliness.

What can we do? We can pray. We can support others who have been called to adopt (emotionally and financially). We can give financially in the name of orphans. Reece's Rainbow is near and dear to my heart for many reasons. Of course because we would not have Zoya without RR, but also because of the amazing work they do to try to lessen the brokenness of this world by finding families for these children and allowing them to LIVE AND LOVE AND LAUGH with a family. What can you do right this minute? Well, recently Andrea Roberts (who is the founder of RR) was chosen to receive the "Heroes Among Us" Award through people magazine. She has been chosen as a finalist in the "Hero of the Year" and if she wins, RR will receive an award of $10,000. That money would surely help many orphans to find their forever families. So right this moment, would you go and VOTE for Andrea? It will take you 10 seconds and possibly help to save a child's life. So simple.  You can vote as many times as you'd like by just clicking the refresh button at the top and clicking on Andrea's picture again and again :) What do you have to lose?