Monday, November 3, 2014

National whatever you want it to be Month

Yep it's November....national peanut butter month, national writing month, national diabetes awareness month...and the list goes on and on.  Here at the Johnson house, we have a favorite designation for this month...National Adoption Month (although peanut butter month is a close second).
Actually it is great that November is Adoption Month because November first is the first day, Olivia set foot in her new country, new home, and first family.  Up until then, she was part of a pretty staggering statistic ...163,000,000 orphans.  My mind is blown!  Hope yours is too.

It is strange how I grew up in a Christian family, went to a Christian college, and went to church my entire life and I really don't ever remember being exposed to just how many of the "fatherless" are out there.  (Now I will say, I may have been told and just forgot or didn't truly listen.) I remember hymns, I remember how I was taught to dress, I remember my memory verses and books of the Bible, I remember doctrines...I could keep going.  But sadly I never remember learning to serve "the fatherless and widows in their affliction" (James 1:27)...even though, in high school I actually memorized the entire book of James. We should be teaching our children this enough that it actually makes an impact on them.

A couple years ago, Christ gave me a wake up call.  KAREN, THEIR ARE LOTS AND LOTS OF ORPHANS...DO SOMETHING!!! (No, this was not audible. But I did hear it nonetheless.)  And ever since that day when I clicked a  web link out of curiosity, Christ has been working on my view of the fatherless.  Each day I realize just how much I fail (yep, adopting once and never doing another thing for the other millions is a failure) at acting upon the knowledge I have in my head.  We are Christians...we should act like Christ.  Who I am pretty sure did not just memorize the book of James...HE LIVED IT.

So today I am going to show you a little bit of what I have learned.  Deciding to adopt is hard. Adoption paperwork is harder. And shockingly enough, raising an adopted child is even harder.  BUT with God all things are possible.  And while you feel you may not be able to actually ADOPT, I have learned some pretty amazing things that EVERYONE can do.

So while you are sitting there enjoying National Cappuccino Day, National Housewife Day, National Deviled Egg Day(today), National Doughnut Day, National Pickle Day, or National Chicken Lady Day(my personal favorite), or even National Cook For Your Pets Day(seriously?!?), maybe you can swipe a little peanut butter on doughnut(just remember to be aware of diabetes, while doing this)...or pickle (if you are weird like that) and check out these places that actually help change the lives of orphans:

(PS. These will be in order of when I learned about them...not order of importance. And these are just a few...there are so many more.)

#1 - Reece's Rainbow   This websight will open your eyes.  It is dedicated to helping children around the world with special needs find their special families. And the great thing is...it helps those families raise money for adoption.  So whether you decide to adopt or not, you can always help someone else in their journey to adopt.

#2 - Children's House International  This was our adoption agency. They are wonderful agency.  They have many waiting children listed.  I am really rooting for one of their waiting children...I hope she finds a home soon.


(Photo Credit: CHI -this is Olivia)


#3 - Chances 4 Children This place is fantastic.  They have such a broad range of ways to help orphans in Haiti.  They run orphanages and medical clinics, help women with jobs so they can keep their children, and sponsor orphaned children for schooling, food, and medical care.  So if you can spare a little money each month...there are many children in Haiti who can use a sponsor.


(photo credit: Chances4Children's facebook page)


#4- Pure Religion Apparel Here's something a little less intense.  Help people fund their adoptions by buying these t-shirts for your family for Christmas. 50% of the cost of each shirt goes to an adopting family! (They even have a section which raises money to help the persecuted Christians in the Middle East --just throwing that in their even though it doesn't have to do with adoption.) Great shop...great causes!!!


(Photo Credit: Pure Religion's facebook page)


#5 - Snowflake Embryo Adoptions Now this one was a stretch even for me...I just learned about this one.  Did you know how many embryos are frozen in US? 600,000!!! Yep.  These are CHILDREN who may never be given the option of being born.  They have 3 fates: being discarded (seriously, people?!?), being dedicated to science (think stem cell research here...sorry, but I find this wrong) or they can be ADOPTED!  Yep, there are parents who have chosen to make sure their frozen CHILDREN (because let's face it, they are children) are born even if it is not to them! What an amazing choice! And who knew you could actually give birth to your adopted child?!?

And this is just my short list...so do SOMETHING this National Adoption Month.  Because there are 163,000,000 kids out there who deserve for Christians to follow Christ example...
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27

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