What my eyes have seen

Before I went to Africa, I thought that "Save the Children" was created by some group of oversensitive media-types who had to drive out to the most remote village to find these starving children. Surely there couldn't be THAT many children living in THOSE kinds of conditions.

If you are a bit of cynic like me, you are pretty sure that you aren't going to die from Swine Flu and you are even more confident that media is trying to pin some guilt trip on Americans about the starving children of Africa. Maybe you aren't a cynic and all of this worries you or breaks your heart. Good! Good that you have not be hardened by the media.

What I saw in Africa changed me. There are THAT many children living in THOSE conditions. Now, when I see an advertisement or video that says 1 in 10 children in Africa die before age five... I am reminded of what I have seen. When I hear about the 10 million orphans, I feel it in my heart. It's real. It's not a made for TV movie, and I am ashamed that I ever thought so.

That's all I have to say about that... just that what I heard from the media before is so much different than what I hear now. My heart has opened and I hear with new ears.

On another note, I just want to follow up on this post and yesterday's post to say that I am not adopting to save the world. My reason for growing my family isn't about "saving" someone or having "pity" or even "doing the right thing". It's not. I don't feel any kind of obligation or duty to adopt these children. I happened to fall in love, and my heart will not be happy until these girls are under my wing. With that said, I wish I could save the world. I wish I could kiss every orphan good-night. I wish I could give them food and safety, every last one of them. My love for my children is not out of my passion for orphans, my passion for orphans is out of the love for my children, for all children.

There is no other motivation for me to bring these children into my family, than to love them. And, God willing, for them to love me!