We Didn't Miss the Blessing

As the kids decorated our Christmas tree the other night, I thought about how different this Christmas was for Ana from last year. We had her last Christmas...but it had only been a month and, quite frankly, things were a blur- for us, and most definitely for her. But this year, she is singing the songs, anticipating the advent candle lighting at dinner each night, hearing the stories and getting caught up in the excitement of lights and decorations. I turned to Matt and proclaimed; "I am so glad that we did not miss the blessing of adoption!" It really hit me that we very well could have missed the blessing. Our family's life would have continued but we would have never had this moment of seeing our sweet toddler daughter decorating our tree. And then I couldn't help but think of all the other children, orphaned and abandoned, in her orphanage alone. And they were alone, for another blank year, another stark, lonely, meaningless year. So many other families were missing the blessing that could be theirs! The latest statistic reports something like 147 million orphaned and abandoned children are in the world today. That is a staggering number. And yet, if just half of the 300 million Christian families worldwide would open their homes for adoption...what a difference could be made! Would you consider adoption this holiday season? Whether praying for orphans, financially supporting couples wanting to adopt, encouraging adoption among your families and churches, or maybe, just maybe, consider what it would look like in your family to have another sweet toddler decorating your tree next Christmas.