Hope

With all of the joyous greetings of the season, Christmas cards in the mail, tins of cookies, presents under the tree, the jingle-jangle of the bell ringer's bell and the cling-clang of coins as they are dropped into the red bucket, carols on the radio, and the giggles of children as they sit on Santa's lap telling him all they wish for Christmas ... I can't help but feel a sense of sadness and desperation for the children who have no family. I want to take them, hug them, and tell them that I love them. I want to promise them that everything is going to be OK. So many of these innocent ones have no hope. I hate feeling helpless ...

Then my thoughts turn to those who want so desperately to be a mom or dad. Maybe infertility has left them childless ... maybe they are single ... maybe they've suffered the unfathomable loss of a child.

Do you know what keeps these children and parents apart? It's money. Our government is spending billions on bailing out the banks when there are children all over the world who need the hope of a future. Thousands of children wait in the United States alone for a family to call their own. Children rock themselves to pass the day in metal cribs in the Ukraine. Babies die of cholera in Haiti.

This year our family tried to do something to help. We aren't wealthy, but we can give up our McDonald's drive thru meals, a magazine subscription, or new video games to do our little part to help these children. My five stinkers decided to take their saved allowance and the money from our loose change jar that we typically use for pizza parties and donate it to an organization that helps bring children with down syndrome together with families who are able to adopt children with special needs. Anita, Nathan, Isaac, Alyssa and Brandon each chose a child from the Christmas Angel Tree Project at Reece's Rainbows (http://www.reecesrainbow.org/angeltreesponsorpage.htm) to "sponsor". These children are waiting for a family to bless. The majority of them live in undesirable orphanage settings in Eastern Europe, Haiti and South America.

Most of you know me pretty well ... you know I'd love to "save them all" if I could. If I had the finances I'd adopt again ... either domestically or internationally. In the mean time we are going to help the little ones who are waiting find hope. Hope that they can survive where they are now ... and hope that they are given a chance to grow in love.

If you feel that God has placed adoption, fostering or volunteer-work on your heart to help these kids, please check out the links below. Or, email me. These kids need us.

www.adoptuskids.org
www.adoptex.org
www.foster-adopt.org
www.reecesrainbow.org

Until Tomorrow,
Kathy ... wanting to make a difference