Like today for instance. I took the boys for an impromptu trip to the mountains to surprise our youth group. They were camping about an 90 minutes from home and I thought "that would be fun!" First our GPS took us literally through the woods and spit us out on a dead end, insisting that we drive through the woods to "reach our destination ahead." Right.
When we finally regained cell service we found our way only to be stopped by a giant gate guarding the camp. There was a buzzer. Buzzed. Nothing happened. Called hubster and everyone else I knew on the trip. No cell service. Called the camp number. Answering machine. Called the "emergency" camp number. Answering machine. (REALLY?!?!) Was about to turn around and go home when I huge man in a huge truck pulls up. Here I am, a lady with a baby and a boy and being from someplace other than the south, I think "This man could kill us and there is no one around to hear us screaming." (In case you are wondering YES I always do think the very best of people...NOT!!) At this point we are out of the car and letting C run off some energy as I call everyone I know.
I nervously eye the house up the hill. I would never make it holding my 25 pound baby. Turns out he is a nice guy from Zellwood, FL. We had plenty of time to chat as we wait for someone to let us into the stinking gate. Long story short a lady finally left the camp and we rushed the open gate.
Do overs. Everyday I wish I could erase something.Today, I wish I would have gotten the gate code before I thought I was going to get myself and my kids chopped into pieces. Sometimes, I wish I could just re-write big sections of my life. And, well, that's pretty stupid because I've had a wonderful life. But what about those who really have a reason to re-write life? Days, weeks, years, spent in an orphanage. Even under the best circumstances, it's a horrible existence.
It's hard enough getting a ticket out when you are a perfectly healthy person. The chances of being adopted are slim at best. Now, add in even the smallest health problem and those odds reduce significantly. Next, add a mental impairment, and you might as well forget ever having a home or a mom and dad to tuck you in. You will never celebrate a birthday or wait for Santa. You won't get proper health care or nutrition. You'll be hungry and you won't be able to tell anybody. You'll need comforting and rarely receive so much as a hug. You may start out life in a baby home with compassionate care, but at age FOUR you will be transferred to a mental institution. With adults. At age FOUR.
Fortunately, hope is not lost. There are angels among us that are called to adopt children with special needs. Adoption is a huge hurdle on so many levels. But when God opens your heart to adoption and you are met with a face of a child, your child. You will stop at NOTHING to bring them home where they belong.
One of those hurdles, unfortunately, is financial uncertainty. When you see that cost, it's so easy to think. "Deal breaker" If you don't have it, you don't have it. But once again, there is hope. Agencies like Reece's Rainbow exist to bring home the most hopeless of orphans home, where they belong. They work tirelessly to provide grants (sometimes full grants) to bring these angels home. And the awesome part is YOU CAN HELP RE-WRITE 10 of these angel's lives! Cultivate Wines hosts a semi-annual charity giveaway to award $50,000 to one deserving cause.
This year, Reece's Rainbow is in SECOND PLACE. That means, no $50,000 or 10 grants to waiting orphans. No chance to "re-write" the course of their lives. Voting is easy. You can vote EVERYDAY HERE
On October 31st we'll know if 10 precious babies are that much closer to a "do-over" that will save their lives.
Please vote. Please share. Let's be part of something BIG. It only takes a second and the impact you can make will be life changing.
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