If you have been my friend and you have been a new mum or a new dad and i have been less than encouraging, i am sorry. i am sorry for all the over-the-top comments i have made about the ‘shoulds’ and ‘should-nots’ of parenthood. i am most definitely no expert, just a mum who is also learning her way around this challenging yet fulfilling place called ‘parenthood’.
What i should have been doing is cheering you on with comments such as, “You are doing great.”, “Don’t worry. Things will turn fine when she/he grows up.”, “You have done such a wonderful job of raising her/him.”, “You are a fantastic mum/dad.”, “Just you wait till she/he smiles that first smile.”.
The link below leads to a post written with great perspective – a perspective every parent should be inspired to have.
It still takes my breath away to think that he grew from this helpless day old babe to this very active, funny almost 8-year old boy!
In just 15 days, my little guy turns 8! Time has flown! Many of the “Just Waits” have come and gone, sadly, but i have so many more “Just Waits” to come. And i look forward to them, gladly.
As i read this article, i can’t help but think about all the orphans listed on Reece’s Rainbow who are still waiting, just waiting; just waiting for their forever families to come and get them, just waiting for a mummy or a daddy to pick them up and swing them around, just waiting for siblings who would play with them, just waiting to be in a loving home. And it is a hope we can bring to fruit – we just need to keep praying, keep advocating, keep sharing. Consider adopting one of these precious ones if you can.
On Sunday, my lovely Sunday School Pre-school class children came into class, each holding a lovely tulip in their hands. They gave the tulips to me! i was surprised and very very happy about it. It’s so nice to receive gifts, especially unexpected ones and when they are your favourite flowers,… well… i was simply over-the-moon!
Since it was a surprise, i had no vase to put the flowers in, they were sort of dying by the time we got home with them. i pulled out my trusty plastic vase and filled it with water. As i was doing that, Tobias said, “Mummy, you need to put some sugar in there.” Apparently, that’s what they were taught in school. (i love how the school here doesn’t just focus on academics but also teach the kids to appreciate nature and the world around them.)
So i did put a little sugar in there and by the evening,… well here are the before and after pictures for you to compare.
Isn’t it amazing what a little water can do for a desperately thirsty flower? They went from limp and almost passing out to standing tall and proud.
Now beginning at the end of February, i have been regularly posting about Reece’s Rainbow and the special needs orphans it advocates for. i have become a prayer warrior for two of those kids (Heath & Heather). i also advocate for other kids listed on the RR website on my Facebook, almost daily and sometimes even multiple times a day.
i get the feeling that some of my friends might think that i have gone off my rocker – so to speak. But i have not. Some may think: “What’s the point of praying and advocating? Will it really change anything?”
Yes it will! Like the water and sugar to the tulips, so are my prayers and advocacy efforts for these orphans. i truly believe that God Himself, Jesus Himself, the Holy Spirit Himself, will carry my sugared water to these orphans and feed them.
Many of these orphans (not all, Thank God), live a sort of half-life. They are alive, they are given enough to keep them alive but being in understaffed and underfunded institutes means that they are being left to sit in their chairs all day with nothing to do, no one to interact with… many rock or hit their heads to self-stimulate… that just isn’t a life at all! We are made to be community creatures; without community, without some sort of interaction, one slowly wastes away. And that is exactly what is happening to these orphans.
i also pray and advocate because i believe with all my heart, that having a family who loves them and cares for them, who wants them and wants to interact with them, a family who will play with them, talk with them and do all the fantastic family stuff with them – that – THAT will allow these precious ones to blossom and bloom… a loving family will be the water with sugar which will enable them to stand up tall and proud, no longer wilted or stunned or unwanted.
So open your hearts to these orphans: love them, pray for them, advocate for them, adopt them…
Look at that cute face! He needs his mummy today. Are you his mummy?
MEET LANGLEY
Birthdate: October 2007 Gender: Male Eyes: Blue Hair: light brown Nature: Quiet Diagnosis: Down syndrome From one of our adoptive families who met him in December 2011: ” I saw him today. After days of scanning faces, I walked into Bella’s groupa and SAW HIM!! He is a doll. He is so cute! He looks healthy and is walking. I had a banana for Bella (which they wouldn’t let me give it to her) and he took it. He bit right through the peeling. If they would have let me, I would have given it to him. Oh sweet boy…you need a mama!!!” Friendly, emotional, affectionate boy. Active, social, friendly. Easy going. Eats well independently. Plays well with toys and likes to help others.
i have been praying for my little Heath and my lovely Heather for a little over 2 months and already my human person is weakening and growing weary and losing hope. i am still praying daily for them, for their daily needs, and most importantly, for their forever families to find them ASAP – like TODAY! However, this past week, my prayers have been tinted with a sort of resignation, you could even call it doubt or unbelief. i no longer pray: “Lord help their families find them today.”, with as much conviction anymore. But i know these kids deserve so much more, so much more than just prayers from afar. They deserve a mummy to hold them when they cry, a daddy to show them the wonders of the world, a family to be proud of who they are.
BUT… God is Good! All the time! And He is always there and knows our heart, knows my heart and He sends great encouragement!
i’m in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) where we spend a whole year studying one book from the Bible. This year we are doing Acts (known also as Acts of the Apostles). In order to understand Acts better, we also cover the letters the apostles wrote.
The previous week’s study was on Ephesians, specifically Eph 6:10-24, which speaks about the armour of God. Our teaching leader gave a lecture on it and her last main point (called principles in BSF) was ‘Prayer is the Power for Victory’. Paul had ended his letter to the Ephesians with a request that they pray “on all occasions with all kinds of prayers” and also for him. Even the great Paul needed to be prayed for. And those prayers were not in vain, although most of the Ephesians would not have seen with their own eyes the results of their prayers. But they prayed on.
11 years old Heath, is a cutie who needs his family asap.
And so i should pray on too. Keep on praying for my precious ones – Heath and Heather, and all the other lovely children on Reece’s Rainbow.
10 year old Heather, is a healthy sweetie who needs a family asap.
James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
And one of the questions asks us to list specific groups that might be considered as “widows and orphans”. Of course, i listed Reece’s Rainbow’s kids. The follow-up question was, “Do you have a responsibility to any of these? If so, which ones and what might you do to ease their distress?”
God encouraged me yet again. i can pray for them, i can share their stories, i can advocate for them, i can donate, i can fundraise. i can even hope and pray for a mission trip to open up where i can actually go visit them and bring them more comfort in the forms of love and hugs and interaction.
It gets better still. God, then, affirmed that this is my faith in action as i went on to read James 2, where in verses 14-26, it speaks about faith in action, that our actions are the evidence of our faith in God. i pray and hope and have faith that God is moving mountains, melting hearts, enabling hands and feet to bring these orphans a family who will truly love them, value them and give them the life they deserve.
So i will continue to advocate, to pray, to fundraise, to share, to talk about these wonderful children till the cows come home, and still go on some more 🙂
Please do visit my little Heath’s and my lovely Heather’s profiles by click on their names or their pictures. Look, truly look at their amazing faces and see their need, see how much they need you. They can not speak for themselves from where they are currently. Will you speak for them? Pray for them? Will you consider adopting them? Will you donate to their adoption grant? (The larger the grant the higher the chances of them getting notice as this will reduce one of the many hurdles which adoptive parents face)
If you do any of the above, please leave a comment below so that i can send you a personal thank you.
Just one more thing before i go.
7 year old Beau, is a healthy and very independent little guy who needs a loving family.
This little boy, Beau, is the same age as my own Tobias. He has also touched my heart. i will also be advocating and praying for him from now on. He is a wonderful little boy who is intelligent and sociable and loving. He deserves so much more than life in an orphanage, which is where he has been since he was born. Click on his name or his photo to view his profile. Click here to view a video of him, which will sweep you off with what a delightful little guy he is. Once again, i ask you to please consider doing all you can to help him – adopt, advocate, donate, pray…
trippingdifferently 