Adoption

Have you experienced an inner “calling” or desire of your heart and yet that desire has remained elusive throughout your life? I have a number of these in my life but one of the most persistent has been the desire to adopt a child from an orphanage. I remember sitting in the pew of St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in St. Paul listening to a missionary speaking about the children in orphanages in Africa. This missionary spoke of children who had very little physically and truly needed adoptive parents. Forty years later the need for adoptive parents has not diminished. Adoptive parents are needed for the thousands of children throughout the world who have lost their parents due to poverty, abuse, or illness.

My heart especially gravitates towards deaf and hard of hearing children. This is a natural outflow of my love for American Sign Language and the deaf community. It breaks my heart that deaf children are still, in many cultures, viewed as curses or punishments upon their families. It is still common for deaf children to literally be left in the streets in some countries as their families view them as so shameful they do not want to recognize them. I have also worked with many children with disabilities that are very minor and in the United States are easily managed. These children thrive and live vibrant lives and contribute to their families and communities as much as anyone contributes.

So, today, I extend to you an invitation to consider adoption of a child or children as a viable option in your life. Instead of thinking,”Why would I want to adopt?” maybe the question is really, “Why not adopt?” There are children out there who desperately need a parent or parents to step up and to help them. I may not have been able to adopt so far in my life, however, I will continue to advocate for adoption. Please watch the video at rainbowkids.org that I have linked you to if you click on the hot link.