Chosen

Do you remember that time on the playground when the kids were dividing up into teams and you just waited and waited to be chosen.  Maybe you were never left to the end.  Maybe you were one of the lucky to be picked first or second.  Maybe you were even the team captain and chose the kids on your team.  Did you pick the strongest, the fastest, or did you pick the weakest or the one who picked their nose out in right field instead of playing along?  Have you ever wanted something so desperately, you thought of nothing else?  What if that thing you wanted so bad was a family, even if the concept of family was a foreign idea?

As families all gather in GZ, we have met many and come to learn their stories.  Single women adopting their first, young married couples adopting a sweet wee one, families adopting their token girl or boy, to those who have adopted multiple times adding to their mega families.   But what I am most intrigued by is how and why the chose this particular child.

In the Chinese adoption there are basically two ways to find your child.  One is to complete 90% of your paperwork and become logged into the China system and then have a referral sent to you of a child matching the medical parameters you are open to.   These children typically are categorized as minor or correctable needs.  The second way is to find your child is to look through agency lists and the shared lists of waiting children.  Submit a letter of intent and proceed with the adoption.  At any given time there are 1000's of children on this list who have been waiting months, evens years, yes years to be chosen.   Typically these children are categorized as moderate/severe needs.

So today at the pool when an adoptive mother was surprised that my sweet adorable baby waited waited to be chosen for six months...I sheepishly said yes... And his sister waited......And his brother waited even more and his older brother waited almost three years.   And why?   Because they were categorized on the moderate/severe list needs.  And no one Choose them when that referral came to them.........families said no thank you,  oh not for us!   Oh we'll wait for something that fits our family lifestyle better.   Some children will then wait a lifetime to be chosen,...well in China, that is till age 14. And sadly never be CHOSEN.......This trip their are two children being adopted right before they turn 14.  Justin has hung out at the pool with the one young man.  Amazing young man and what a shame to think this life may have not been chosen to be part of a family,    As we rejoice for him, we cannot stop here as there are 1000s of children awaiting to be chosen everyday.  Some have waited way too long.  God call us to care for the  orphans of the world, and it's not enough to talk about it,  we must show love in our actions.


An Orphan's Wish
   Chosen & dearly Loved......
                       Not only by God.....
                               But also by My Family.