Bringing Home Heros

Well I guess onced it's on a blog, it's official. I must admit I have been overwhelmed by the response to the first blog post. I have had so many people sending me messages with words of hope, love and encouragement. Also, several people expressing that they too have considered adoption. Let me just say one little thing...if you are being called, please listen to your heart because these children are in great need of a hero (as best said by an amazing fellow blogger ordinaryheroblog.blogspot.com). I wanted to express how I am feeling about this process. First of all, eventhough I have said "yes" to this call, I really believe that these children are the true heros here. I had no idea that children could be so strong and brave. These kids have seen so much and felt so much pain. They lived through a brutal civil war where they witnessed their father being shot before their eyes, they have been in an orphanage for six years where they had to fight for food that was already in short supply, and they have been abused and treated like animals. They have had no hope for a future...until now! Sam's bravery to run away from that orphanage to come find me and save himself and his siblings was the beginning of them living out their destiny. I am so honored to be a part of that. One day when I was just hanging out with Sam (Betty and Fallah had not yet been rescued) I was doing some school work with him and I wanted to see how much English he knows so I wrote a simple sentence to see if he could read it, "I'm so glad you are here." He smiled real big and took my paper so he could respond, "Your are my glory". Yep, I cried. Still do actually. Also while we were hanging out that day, I put on some praise music which he thought was really cool because the orphanage he was in did not have electicity much less a cd player, but anyway the song "I Am Free..." was on. Once again I saw that big smile because for the first time he was free!!!! All of this felt so good to me because now he is in a good center with plenty of food and water. He was going to school for the first time in 4 years and he had medicine for when he gets sick, but you know he did get sick and it was then that I realized I was not ok with him be in a "center" no matter how great the center (and it is). He has no one to comfort him when he doesn't feel well, no one to share his school successes or failures with, and no one to pray with him before he closes his eyes at night. At the end of the day, he is still an orphan. This breaks my heart but these kids are so strong and I know we will have much to teach them about American life, but I can't wait to see all of the things they will be teaching us as well. They are heros for sure in my eyes.

A little bit about my other 3. Malachi, McKenna, and Mackaden have opened their hearts wide for these kids and I am already watching God change some ways of thinking for them. I could not be more pleased with the compassion and love they have for Sam, Betty and Fallah. As a matter of fact, Mackaden (my 4 year old) said to me tonight, "I really miss Fallah. When he gets here we will play all of the time and he will love me." They already have the heart of "family".

Many people have asked me "when". Well it would be my hope that they will be here in 7-9 months, but I REALLY need your prayers. The country of Sierra Leone doesn't have a system in place for adoption and to say the least they are not the easiest to work with. That being said, God is faithful to keep his promises and He put these kids right in the middle of our hearts. We didn't do that. God commands us to care for the orphans so I know this decision is lining up with His word. We just need prayer to make some things happen. "For you know all about it, the contempt the abuse. I dare to believe the luckless will get lucky someday in you. You won't let them down. ORPHANS won't be orphans forever" Psalm 10:14 (Message)

In addition, I will be asking for donations to start the adoption process. The entire process should take about %20,000 so we will start our fund raising very soon. As a matter of fact, be looking for a post to display a blanket made by Warm Hearts Warm Bodies that we will be auctioning off to initiate the home study.

Again Thank you so much for your support and love. It has truly inspired me so see how many amazing people I know, as well as people I hope to know soon.

I love you all