Because You Know

"...Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

You may be tempted to close your browser at the very sight of that verse.


It is scary, yet it is real.

It is scary to me. How many things do I know of and do not act upon? What is God going to hold me accountable for when I stand before Him? How many homeless people do I overlook daily and not treat them as Christ? I was reminded in last week's sermon that every person I come in contact with I need to treat as Jesus. I need to live on mission.


The details below outline the cause of the orphan, but please do not mistake my words, there are many other tragedies in this world that we Christians need to be on mission for too. This one is most near and dear to my heart right now, so I want to share the truths with you.

We did not always know the truth. We knew there were orphans, but we did not know the facts. Through our months of research and questions we now know.

• There are an estimated 147 MILLION orphans in the world
• If 7% of Christians adopted ONE child, there would be no more orphans
• There are an estimated 160,000 orphans in the US ready for adoption
• If ONE family in HALF of the churches in the US adopted there would be no more US orphans
• Every 15 seconds another child in Africa becomes an AIDS orphan
• Every day 5,760 children in the world become orphans
• Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out with no family and no home
• Over 2 MILLION children become orphans each year in Africa alone

AND...we are called to do something...

• "Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Deliver the weak and needy from the hand of the wicked." Psalms 82:3-4
•  "Learn to do good, seek justice; correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." Isaiah 1:17
• "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress." James 1:27
• "He defends the cause of the fatherless, giving food and clothing." Deuteronomy 24:19
• "He blesses those who provide for the orphan." Deuteronomy 14:29
“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling, God sets the lonely in families . . .” Psalms 68:5-6

Because you know...what will you do?

For us, this adoption is not our "one and done" act. We want to continue advocating for the orphan in obedience and are brainstorming and praying about what that means for our family.

You may be thinking...I cannot adopt, it is too expensive, my child may not look like me, I already have kids, there are "special" people cut out for that...and the list goes on. Trust me, we are not special. We are not doing it the traditional way. We did not have the money. Our child will have a different color skin. But God called us to and we are obeying. You can too if that is what His plan is for you. He does not call you to do something and leave you in the dark to figure it out. He provides. You step out in faith, even when people disagree and think you are crazy, and He does awesome things.

If He is not leading you to adoption, here is a short list of things I have found where we can serve the orphan.

• Help put an end to the need for adoption 
• Adoptive Mothers Against Adoption
• Shop! Buy items that go to fight the cause for orphans
• 147 Million Orphans
• Cupcake Shirts
• Donate to organizations
• SixtyFeet
• Sell Cupcakes
• Support a family who is adopting financially or with a commit to pray
• Get involved with your local church and setup funds for these families
• Volunteer at a local orphanage
• Sponsor a child
• Father's Heart
• World Vision
• Mentor a foster child in your community that you can develop a lasting bond with so they do not spend holidays and such alone after they age out

And there is much more to be done outside of the orphan. We are working on that too...a family in progress!

Please feel free to contact us if you want to chat adoption.

...and off my soapbox now. :)

Adoption Update: We received our USCIS approval and now are purely waiting on our referral for Little R. This means that most paperwork is done...kinda...for the time being.