My Heart Breaks

I wasn't planning on posting another blog quite so soon, but something struck me tonight that I feel is quite blog worthy. 

I'm assuming most adoption agencies have a "waiting child program."  This program is for children who are difficult to adopt out - meaning they are on the older side, sibling groups, or children with special needs.  I very rarely look at the waiting child photo listing for Ethiopia because I don't feel like that is where our child is going to come from.  We are requesting a "healthy" baby...not typical of a "waiting child."  I was on Holt's website this evening checking on something in the guidebook and decided to take a moment to check out the waiting children.  Eleven of the twelve children were the same ones that have been posted since we started this process.  They are beautiful children, but are either older than we are requesting or have special needs that we are not equipped to deal with.  However, tonight there was a new photo, and it really caught my eye. 

Three beautiful children. Two boys.  One girl.  Siblings.  Approximately 2-5 years old.  These are SERIOUSLY beautiful children.  Seriously.  Their mother died from tuberculosis.  Their father surrendered them to the orphanage, unable to care for them on his own.  The intake center (orphanage) is unaware of their actual birth dates.  They are all perfectly healthy, after being treated for pink eye.

Can you imagine??  These children have lived for YEARS with a family, their mama dies, and now they are left to complete strangers.  Can you imagine how scared they are?  Confused?  Angry?  TERRIFIED? 

Their hair is all cut very short.  Very short.  The oldest brother, on the right, is maybe 4 years old.  He is wearing a white onesie, unbuttoned, over a pair of pants.  He weighs about 28 pounds.  He has a birthmark on the side of his nose.  He enjoys visiting his siblings.  He thinks about smiling, but chooses not to.  The middle child, the sister, smiles and puts her arms around her brothers on either side of her.  She is probably 3 years old and wears a little collared denim dress.  She weighs about 24 pounds.  She walks and runs on her tiptoes. The youngest brother is on the left.  Maybe two years old.  He weighs less than 20 pounds.  He is being monitored for his growth and seems weak due to lack of food.  He has an 8+ word vocabulary.  He is most definitely not smiling.  He is, actually, quite sad. 

Tears spring to my eyes as I look at the picture, which I've done every couple minutes.

I want these babies.  The emotions that surfaced at the very beginning of this process begin to work their way back up.  Surely these babies need me.  Surely I'm meant to be their mama.  Surely we can find a way to squeeze six kids into two bedrooms.

"These siblings are in need of a family who has parented past their age and preferably have adoption experience and no young children in the home."

Apparently, they're not for us, but they are for someone.  Hopefully soon.  Please pray for them.  They need a mommy and daddy...really bad.

God sets the lonely in families.