Waiting kids.....

Since we committed to Pasha last year when he was listed on Reece's Rainbow I pretty much have avoided looking at all the pictures of kids listed that are waiting for a family. It's so heartbreaking looking at all of them knowing you are only one person. 

It's even harder now since I have been to one of those countries and have seen the kids in an orphanage waiting, waiting to start their lives. I saw their faces everyday for weeks, I was called mama by so many who just wanted some attention from me. I hugged so many, waved to them, tried to say hi and just smile so they knew they were deserving of attention and love. Seeing the older kids at the internat was even harder, so many that have been in orphanages since birth yet they're still waiting for one reason or another. 

Jared and I are done after this trip coming up with adopting. We will be at the limit of what we can handle but there are so many other kids who need families , who deserve a family and love. I can't describe it to someone who hasn't been there and seen it first hand how sad it is seeing literally hundreds of kids that more than likely will grow up institutionalized never living in a family. All those little things we take for granted they won't experience. 

If you can't adopt you can still help. Just google adoption. There's so many organizations both domestically and internationally that help not only families with fundraising but also the kids that are still there waiting for their chance at life. The caregiver to child ratio is overwhelmingly sad especially with the kids that have special needs. There just aren't enough workers to care for them, sometimes they don't know how to care for them. Sometimes they just don't care.  They believe the kids are a "lost cause" they're broken or "not working". Yes I have friends who were told when they went to adopt their children that the kids are not working, they're invalids, they want to know why someone would want those kids. 

My Pasha was one of those. So was Callen...Callen was given a few diagnosis' that aren't even true he was labeled as having medical issues that he doesn't have, he's perfectly healthy. He had native families come see him to see if they wanted to adopt him but they all said no, because of his hydrocephalus and heart condition which he has neither of! No native families even inquired about Pasha, 4.5 years he laid there waiting and was never even asked about. He is adorable, and smart and funny and so very sweet. I can't help but think of what everyone is missing out on not having a child like Pasha! He's so determined and hard headed yet is showing Jared and I everyday what a joy he truly is. And my Callen if he had been adopted earlier I truly believe he'd be a "typical" 3 year old today. His issues are mostly caused from not being nurtured and living in an orphanage. He was covered in bruises when I got him from the orphanage and the one time I saw him being showered there before I was able to take custody he had large bruises on his buttocks that looked suspiciously like injection marks. 

If you can't adopt then do something else. Advocate, pray, donate do something.