On Monday night, my book club got to have a conference call with Tom Davis, CEO of Children’s HopeChest and author of so many of my favorite books, including Scared, a work of fiction about reality, the plight of the people of Swaziland.  Tom is such a hero of mine that I told the girls before he called that it was probably like when other people meet Bono.  We had such a wonderful night asking him questions and learning more about his huge heart for orphans, his experiences in Africa and Russia, and his writing process.

During the call, one of my sweet friends referred to Adecar as “our village.”  Ours!  Not “Melanie’s” village, not “that” village, but “ours.”  Wow.  It’s happening.  The people around me really are seeing these orphans, this village, as ours.  Our people.  Our kids.  I LOVE IT!  We get to help them and be part of their lives, and slowly people are joining this Adecar family who will bring hope to those who need it most.  I love that almost everytime I go somewhere now, someone in the room is an Adecar sponsor or in the process of becoming one.

I still have a huge stack of sponsorless orphans sitting next to my desk.  Today Elliott picked up Josephine and brought her to me.  Her dad’s dead, her mom’s sick and is a peasant, and she has seven siblings.  She’s eleven.  If she lived here she’d be in fifth grade, dance and sing in Upstreet every Sunday morning, have a small group leader, maybe play soccer or take piano lessons.  In Adecar, she’s most likely taking care of her siblings, walking for miles to get water, going hungry many days in a row, and sleeping in a mud hut with her entire family.  I can’t even comprehend it.

So, imagine how exciting it is for me to hear one of my friends talk about “our village.”  I’m no longer carrying this burden alone.  I’m no longer the sole advocate for these kids.  Now other people know, and other people care, too.  Sitting around my kitchen table with my book club talking about Scared…oh my goodness.  These friends who I love connected with Adanna’s story, they saw through her eyes, and we got to talk about it.  They willingly entered into the pain of her world.  And I’m excited to see what God’s going to do with that pain.  He’s transformed my life through the pain of others, when I finally worked up the courage to take a look.

Getting to talk about Africa and orphans with my friends and NOT feeling like a freak felt so good!  Watching my Adecar family grow also feels amazing.  Tonight I’m feeling hopeful.  I often tell God, “Um, I have a pile of orphans next to me and no earthly idea how to find sponsors for them.  I need a heavenly idea, please!”  It’s too big for me, but God moves the hearts and minds of all of us, so I’m trusting that He’ll move some this way!

Baby Dale, Boy Slash Girl, Him Slash Her, SLASH!  I was just thinking about you sweet child and doing a little math (which you will see is a real stretch for Mommy), and I think you might be BORN!  Not completely sure, kinda depends on the timeline…but Slash, I think you might be born!  As your Mommy, first of all let me just say, I’m floored by this realization.  Most mommies are very, VERY aware of their children being born.  But God has chosen to have you born halfway around the world by a different mommy, your birth mommy, who I just know loves you oh so very much.  It is an honor and a privilege to get to be your mommy and watch you grow up.  But for this portion of your life…well…I just get to imagine you growing.  If you’re born, then you’re still very little.  Elliott was a wee tiny little guy when he was born – only 4 pounds!  I guess I learned a lot about not being in control with tiny little Elliott in an incubator.  God taught me early on with him that he is GOD’S and not mine.  It’s the same with you, little one.  You are GOD’S and not mine.  I can’t help you now any more than I could help Elliott when he had doctors swarming around him and tubes coming out of him.  I’m trusting God to take care of  you now like He took care of your big brother a couple of years ago.  Daddy, Elliott, and I pray for you and your birth mommy every day.  Hang in there, little one.  We are on a list.  It may sound cold, waiting on a list for you, but it’s not, because God is going to match us.  God’s got it all timed perfectly.  Right when our name pops up, or however it works, you’re going to be there, and you’re going to be ours forever.  God’s got it all figured out, and He’s already got us together.  So wherever you are, Mommy and Daddy love you, your big brother can’t wait to play Legos with you, and God has a plan.

“All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be” Psalm 139:16.

My very favorite thing as a parent is when tired little Elliott crawls into my lap and lets me rock him.  He grabs a blanket, snuggles into my lap, and lets me stroke his hair as he falls in and out of sleep.  It’s such a gift when my little boy chooses me, chooses to seek me out for comfort and rest.  I want it to last forever.  I’m afraid to move for fear it’ll all go away and he’ll move on to something more exciting.

Lately I’ve been crawling into my Father’s lap in the afternoon while Elliott is taking his nap.  I grab my favorite fuzzy blanket and lay on the couch.  I read the Bible or some of Francis Chan’s Crazy Love and just listen to my Daddy, my Abba.  I pour out my fears, tell Him about the big decisions and issues I have, thank Him for loving me.  I usually fall in and out of sleep.  I used to feel guilty about sleep-praying, but I see it differently now.  Have I ever gotten mad at Elliott for falling asleep in my arms?  Have I ever been hurt by his inability to keep his eyes open when I’m holding him?  Nope.  Not once.  I love every sleepy moment with my son. 

How much more does God love me?  I think when I choose to get up from my computer, walk out of my kitchen, put down my cell phone, and crawl into His lap…I think He loves every moment, sleeping and awake.  I come out of that time with Him refreshed, restored, and reminded of His deep, deep love for me, love that’s somehow even greater than the love I feel for Elliott.

A nap in God’s lap.  A lap nap.  Go grab your Bible and try one the next time life feels really overwhelming.

The big launch weekend is over.  The HopeChest team left yesterday, leaving me with a stack of sweet faces looking back at me, silently asking me to advocate for them.  We had four launches this weekend, two for my Adecar, and two for my friend’s carepoint in Swaziland. 

So, here’s the update on Adecar.  First…WE RAISED THE FULL AMOUNT NEEDED TO BUILD A KITCHEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!  As I added up the weekend’s tally and received the last check, I realized that we had what we needed to get the kitchen facililty built and burst into tears.  I felt really stupid, but then everyone else started crying, too.  Some of the best tears I’ve ever shed.  Thank you to all who bought merchandise, bid on auction items, or just plain wrote much-needed checks.  Thank you.  This kitchen will have a place to prepare meals for the over 300 orphans living in Adecar, a locked food storage area, and a covered pavilion for community gatherings and Bible teaching.

Now about those 300+ orphans.  We made a good dent this weekend.  At Saturday night’s event, I think almost every couple left with an orphan in their hands.  It was such a privilege to watch as families looked through the faces and chose orphans to bring into their homes.  Some even left with sponsorship packets for their neighbors.  We saw about 40 orphans sponsored.  What a blessing. 

The Children’s HopeChest team brought sponsorship packets for about half of the orphans living in Adecar.  Once we find sponsors for those 150+ kids, then we get the other half.  So, I have a little over 100 orphans in my living room.  They each have a story, a tragic one.  They each need a family.

God says that He sets the lonely in families.  I watched it happen this weekend.  I had a woman tell me that she was looking for two girls who were siblings.  The packets weren’t organized that way.  I thought it would take forever to find.  The very first two packets that I set my hands on were two sisters.  Thanks, God.  I wanted to sponsor a boy Elliott’s age, so that they could grow up together, writing back and forth, and someday meet.  I found George.  He was born in 2007, same as Elliott.  His profile says that he enjoys dancing, singing, music, and cooking, and his personality can be described as active, extroverted, friendly, and curious.  Yep, George and Elliott.  Two peas in a pod.

I watched as one couple chose orphans for each of their four children, matching genders and ages.  They are having their children contribute financially to the sponsorship.  What an incredible experience for them, to grow up learning about the impact that they can make in the life of a peer.  One couple sponsored a child, but couldn’t get Julius out of their minds.  They’ve contacted me and are taking him as well.  At one of the Swaziland launches, Menzi kept following me around the room.  Everywhere I looked, I kept finding his packet.  Finally, I picked him up and carried him from person to person.  The next night, I found out that a family to which I’d introduced him is praying about sponsoring him.

These kids are becoming real.  They started as a barrage of African faces, pictures of strangers peering through plastic covers.  Now they are George, Julius, Mary, Florence, Betty, Amos.  The names and faces go on and on, spread out on my living room floor.  They each matter to God and they matter to me.  I feel the burden of being their voice in America.  If I don’t speak for them, who will?  It’s a burden that I willingly accept and humbly lay before the Lord.  Show me how to speak for these kids.  Give me the creativity to find them sponsors.

Let me know if you want to sponsor a child in Adecar, Uganda.  By sponsoring a child, you’re changing the course of that child’s life, helping to change the course of the entire village of Adecar, and you’re also changing the course of your own life.  $34 a month, $408 a year.  At Karts for Kids, I was tremendously touched by the person who told me that he figured it out, and the new flat screen TV that he wanted cost $34 per month.  And instead, he left that night with an orphan in his hand.

I’m not asking anyone to give anything up, and I never want to make anyone feel guilty.  I’m just sincerely excited about what we can do, what a gigantic difference we can make, when we wake up and do something.  We can be Waking Giants!  Alex and I are on this fabulous journey.  Our hearts are broken, but bigger than ever.

Hey, I kept a bunch of Ugandan paper bead necklaces for anyone who missed Karts for Kids and still wants to buy a necklace.  I’ve got necklaces, and I’ve got orphans.  Any additional money that we raise right now is going to food.  We can’t have a kitchen without that.

Anyway, I know I’m rambling.  I haven’t even started on the fabulous weekend that we had with the HopeChest team.  I can’t believe it’s real that I get to be on a volunteer team with the most amazing orphan advocates in the world.  We had 10 people packed into our home and spent all weekend talking orphans and Africa, and also laughing till I snorted…a lot.  I love my new friends.  I love my new life.  My heart and my life are very full.  I am thankful.