What is a child's life worth?????

Our first picture together




Shad on the day he was found abandoned & was taken to the orphanage...he looks so sad




The first picture we saw of Shad




Shad today surrounded by some of his birthday presents



Today we were driving home and swerved to miss a turtle. I wanted so badly to get him out of the road but it was too dangerous & it literally hurt my heart as I said a prayer for him to get safely across....ok I'm weird, I save spiders, frogs, all kinds of bugs....but I hate for anything to die!

So tonight again I read a blog of a family who was blessed with a daughter with Downs and is in the process to adopt another little girl from a country that has to remain unnamed at this time. The little girl they are adopting is 9 years old and weighs about 12 pounds. Yes you read correctly...less than 12 pounds!!! WHY??? Because she has been on a starvation diet for years. Not just her but many children in that country. I want to save children like that!!!!!

When we adopted Shad, he was not in good shape. In fact our pediatrician said he was the 2nd sickest international child he'd ever seen. Shad was 2 yrs old, weighed 19 pounds (that was after being fed by me for over 2 weeks in China), had worms & was in the beginning stages of malnutrition. Our peds said that if we hadn't adopted Shad, he'd probably would have ended up getting some type of sickness & wouldn't have had the strengh to fight it and would have died. That's an overwhelming feeling knowing that you stepped into a situation (God lead you into a situation) and a child's life was probably saved! It's very humbling.

So tonight I want to share with you this blog www.theblessingofverity.com Go there, let your heart be moved.....

Then go to http://reecesrainbow.org and see the pictures of some of these kids who need to be rescued!!!

I read a statistic somewhere that if every christian family would adopt one orphan, then there would be no orphans left in the world. Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing????

Some people ask me why not adopt from the USA? There are needy kids here BUT we have a social support group in place here that might not be perfect but I can promise you with 100% certainty, that chances are the child will not die here! Sure there are the weird foster family who are awful here & there but thankfully most of them get caught! In other countries .....you have no idea unless you've walked in to a dirty stinky orphanages in the middle of winter & you could see your breath in the air...INSIDE THE CHILDREN'S ROOMS!!!!!!!! That's where my son was living!!! And compared to some of the stories I've recently heard, he had it better than most....

When I hold Sam our biological son with SNs and I think of what his fate would have been had he been placed in one of those places....my stomach literally drops with fear! Oh my God...there are so many little Sam's & Shad's out there who need homes!!

So if you are thinking of adopting, think internationally. You can go back & read our story...we had NO money, God supplied everything! I believe when you obey God by trying to take care of the orphans...God will take care of YOU! And He will provide for their care! If you just can't adopt....give to someone who is. I can put you in contact with several wonderful families... What is a child's life worth??

So I still hope Mr Turtle made it safely across the road but I PRAY that God will touch hearts who will go and adopt children who need a mom and a dad!