Today is the day that my sweet little niece, Joy, will begin a road of surgery and recovery to repair her hip displasia. I think back to the days when my sister and her family prayed and waited to adopt a child with special needs. It all seemed so hypothetical back then.
Living life with a child/children who were once solitary and are now in loving homes and families has taught me just how non-hypothetical the situation really is for orphan children all around the world. Precious, innocent, alone little ones need people who are willing to be Jesus' hands and feet. He is looking to us to wrap our arms and love and resources and families around children just like Joy. He knows them each by name and even the hairs on their head are numbered (Matthew 10:30).
There are individual, unique, treasures within each child in need and it doesn't feel very hypothetical anymore...it now feels poignantly personal.
"Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God." Psalm 84:3
Joy was once in an orphanage. Today, she is abundantly loved and cherished and being helped physically by doctors and a mommy and daddy and siblings who have given their lives to care for her. I watch my sister and her family give and give to this child and wait to give more of themselves to Linda too...and I'm joyful.
"God settles the solitary in a home." Psalm 68:6
One less. Two less. How vast the number of children deserving and in need of loving homes and some of them surgery. How few the number of families that bridge the gap.
"And [Jesus] said to them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'" Luke 10:2
And so we pray. We pray for families for lonely children in our own community, country, and around the globe. We pray for those who would step into an empty space that awaits a willing participant to let Jesus' love pour out through them. We pray for children who remain alone, knowing that God has never left them and He never will. He's promised that...no matter what our circumstances.
"For [God] has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5
Today, as Joy undergoes major surgery and months of recovery including a wheelchair and body casting, we begin a new process of prayer for her and her family. Will you join us?
God is abundantly able to do all things well and He loves Joy. He loves her family and He holds them in the palm of His sovereign, wise, and loving hand. We trust Him.
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21
