I'm blogging...it's about adoption

I've been trying to convince myself to start a blog lately, but it's been hard. I'm busy, I type all the time for work, I need to make dinner, the dog needs a walk, I want to plant flowers, I need to call someone, I need to go to the post office, I need...a million excuses not to ever get started. It's just long overdue. But I just couldn't sit down and make it happen.

The catalyst for me to get started today was a recent viewing of an international adoption documentary. It's called Stuck and it's a documentary about children and families stuck in the broken international adoption system. Just a couple of minutes into it, when I started to feel bad about eating my second Twizzler, thinking about the fact that I now have two Twizzlers in my already full-from-dinner belly, I knew that I was sunk. It's one of those documentaries that you watch because you know you should, but you have that sinking feeling that the subject matter is going to certainly get harder before it gets better. And Stuck is no exception.  

From beginning to end, 122 minutes of stories that I can relate to, watching interviews with clients that could have very easily been one of my clients, and most devastating perhaps was the raw video footage of these kids in these orphanages.  Not these old photos we've all seen in turn of the 20th century orphanages. Oh no friends, very modern photos, all from 2011 and later. It's really all there, for us to see, this is how these babies are being cared for and this is how these older children are growing up. And then when they turn that magic/tragic age of 14, 15, 16, or 17, whatever the age is, and those gates open, the child is leaving into an even scarier world. It is outrageous.

To those who tell me that we've got plenty of kids here to adopt, and then ask why people have to leave the country in order to complete an adoption (first off I snarkily ask you how many children you've adopted from the US foster care system, and then I put my nice girl hat back on) and then I will tell you to watch this movie and you will get it.  It’s nice that we have choices in life and adoption is no exception.  The Lord calls us to adopt from all different places and I’m glad we can submit. 

Texting with another girlfriend/adoption momma after the movie, she told me that she and her husband would love to adopt internationally again, but now, after seeing that she's now more frightened than ever. Obviously it's easy to see that side of it and quite honestly, anyone with two bits of sense in them should run quickly the other way. But is that the right thing to do? Is that what these babies (they are all babies in my eyes) need you to do? 

Has the Lord placed adoption on your heart and now you are feeling that's what He has called you to do? If so, knock sense square off its block, go watch that documentary tonight and plan to start researching agencies tomorrow (and let me know if you need any help!) 

* If you adopted once and you have been dragging your feet about going again because your oldest needs braces and you haven't been socking away enough in your retirement and you really wanted to take the family to Disney this year because you've been promising that to the kids for years...trust me, their hearts will benefit a lot more from a new sister than a stock photo of Mickey. 
*And if you have never adopted before but you say to yourself that your kids are too old and you have everything on the perfect trajectory that you planned back when you were 22 years old and dreaming of your future family with your four children, all stair-stepped, two years apart (boy girl boy girl), now two in college and two in high school, and so a four-year-old with all his problems and complications would just throw your world off too much...keep thinking about it. 

And trust me, in the end, when your kids reflect back on their lives, they won't be shaped and affected by Mickey or braces or private college or a bigger home nearly as much as they will be from their sister who came from a family, to the streets, to an orphanage in Haiti, to your home, and into your hearts.

Plus, I never went to Disney and I'm fine.