WHY?

I suspect we will be asked this question by many people as we start to tell what is happening in our family.  There are many answers to that question ranging from we feel God is calling us to do this, to we fell in love with Ryan and want him to be part of our family.  But there is also another reason God showed us:

The future for children like Ryan is that even if they are good orphanages, which are still not a substitute in any way for a family, eventually they will age-out of the orphanage system.  The next home for them will be a mental institution.  One of the reasons we want to adopt Ryan is to give him a future with a family who loves him.  We also long for him to have a place to call home that is not an institution.  My hearts breaks for the many children who do not get that chance.

We all have a responsibility, in some way, to give the kiddos we know about today a chance at a family.

During one of my quiet times this week, I read the passage in John 5:1-14 where Jesus healed the disabled man by the pool by saying, “Pick up your mat and walk.”  God pointing out something that I had never thought about before in that passage.  This disabled man had been this way for 38 years.  When Jesus asked him in the beginning of the story if he wanted to be well, he answered that he had been trying to get to the pool on his own because no one was there to help him.  God really highlighted that part to me: for 38 years, no one had offered to help this poor soul get to the pool to be healed?  Where were his family and friends?  Where were kind-hearted people willing to help?  Where was the love that God calls us to show others, especially those less fortunate than us?

The Lord showed me that I need to make sure I am looking out for hurting people and then doing something to help them.  Some people may have been waiting for years for someone to come along side them.  I can’t make them wait any longer.   God is calling me to help.

That is one of the reasons we are trying to adopt Ryan.  I don’t want Ryan to have to wait any longer for the love of a family.  We are coming as soon as we can, sweet boy!

The following song by Matthew West was inspiring to us- we hope it is to you also!