The Waiting...
We are in a period of waiting. 10 days. We are on day 6 and it feels like forever. Especially since today we were told that because of illness (ours and the children at the facility), there is a quarantine and we will not be able to see our Toby until next Tuesday.
Waiting is so hard.
But it suddenly struck me that this heavy feeling of waiting is what we are MEANT to experience during the season of Advent. As we count the days leading up to the birth of our Savior, we are trying to recapture what God's people felt for hundreds of silent years as they waited for their Messiah to come. This realization has caused me to be thankful in the midst of this hard time. This Advent season will be like none other in my life, and I want it to point me more to my Savior.
One thing I am doing this season is writing a portion of Scripture each day - verses that point to the Messiah. I write them out in English and then pick one or two of them to copy in Russian. This has been such a blessing to me and has opened my eyes to so many things about who God is and what Christmas is truly about.
The other activity we are doing is a nightly Advent Calendar from Lifesong for Orphans. We open a door in the calendar each night, read the corresponding Scriptures and pray for a different orphan population or issue. Many of the verses we read at night are the same ones I've been copying during the day. It is such a beautiful and timely correlation...pulling together the verses, our hearts for orphans, our own journey to bring an orphan home, understanding what being adopted by God our Father is all about - THIS is Christmas!
And as we write and read these verses, I am so struck by how many times the poor, the needy, the oppressed, the orphan, the widow are all mentioned in connection with Christ's coming.
"But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth..." Isaiah 11:4
"He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy and shall break in pieces the oppressor." Psalm 72:4
"He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent away empty." Luke 1:53
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18
"Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." Isaiah 1:17
"A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families; he bringeth out those who are bound with chains..." Psalm 68:5-6
"Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" Isaiah 58:6-7
"For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety..." Psalm 12:5
"Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." Isaiah 1:17
Again and again we can see God's heart. We can see His plan to redeem the oppressed when He sent His Son.
We have no real Christmas decorations here. No Christmas cookies. A few songs on my computer. But these verses have become all the decorations we need. They have adorned our hearts with the truth of Christmas and we are so grateful.
So as we wait for the day when we can take our Toby out of that orphanage forever - when we can prove to him that God sets the solitary in families - we want to be a voice for four other children who are waiting.
Four children who have invaded our hearts and minds and prayers. Four precious ones who have driven our hearts to try to think of a way we could come back for them...or try our hardest to find families for them.
The first two are CHARLIE
and REBECCA.
Charlie and Rebecca were both born in 2004 and have Down Syndrome. They are not related, but they are the sweetest of friends and might as well be brother and sister. They have spent most of their lives together here at the facility our Toby has lived in . They are Toby's friends. This summer, the facility was changed from being an orphanage to being a rehabilitation center and school for special needs kids. The director was forced to transfer the last true orphans to other facilities. Because she knew Toby had a family coming for him, she pulled strings to keep him here. We are eternally grateful for that. It was one of our most fervent prayer requests in the beginning of this journey! God answered!
But Charlie and Rebecca do not have families coming for them...yet. So the director was forced to transfer them. My heart is broken. I was so hoping I would get a chance to see them and love on them and take pictures to advocate more for them. I brought special gifts just for them. I asked Toby about them and he hung his head and sadly said, "They aren't here anymore," and moved onto something else. I could tell how disturbed he was.
Yesterday I found out that not only were they transferred, they were put in SEPARATE facilities, called "invalid homes" in distant villages far from this city. These are terrible places and there have been no adoptions from them. Charlie and Rebecca are away from everything and everyone they've ever known and they must be so terrified. They will wither in those places. They need families!! How wonderful it would be if someone came forward for BOTH of them and they could be TRUE brother and sister forever! Please pray for Charlie and Rebecca! Pray that a Mama and Papa come for them and love them and show them, too, that God loves the orphan and will not leave them!
The next sweet boy is MARV.
Waiting is so hard.
But it suddenly struck me that this heavy feeling of waiting is what we are MEANT to experience during the season of Advent. As we count the days leading up to the birth of our Savior, we are trying to recapture what God's people felt for hundreds of silent years as they waited for their Messiah to come. This realization has caused me to be thankful in the midst of this hard time. This Advent season will be like none other in my life, and I want it to point me more to my Savior.
One thing I am doing this season is writing a portion of Scripture each day - verses that point to the Messiah. I write them out in English and then pick one or two of them to copy in Russian. This has been such a blessing to me and has opened my eyes to so many things about who God is and what Christmas is truly about.
And as we write and read these verses, I am so struck by how many times the poor, the needy, the oppressed, the orphan, the widow are all mentioned in connection with Christ's coming.
"But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth..." Isaiah 11:4
"He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy and shall break in pieces the oppressor." Psalm 72:4
"He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent away empty." Luke 1:53
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18
"Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." Isaiah 1:17
"A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families; he bringeth out those who are bound with chains..." Psalm 68:5-6
"Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" Isaiah 58:6-7
"For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety..." Psalm 12:5
"Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." Isaiah 1:17
Again and again we can see God's heart. We can see His plan to redeem the oppressed when He sent His Son.
We have no real Christmas decorations here. No Christmas cookies. A few songs on my computer. But these verses have become all the decorations we need. They have adorned our hearts with the truth of Christmas and we are so grateful.
So as we wait for the day when we can take our Toby out of that orphanage forever - when we can prove to him that God sets the solitary in families - we want to be a voice for four other children who are waiting.
Four children who have invaded our hearts and minds and prayers. Four precious ones who have driven our hearts to try to think of a way we could come back for them...or try our hardest to find families for them.
The first two are CHARLIE
and REBECCA.
Charlie and Rebecca were both born in 2004 and have Down Syndrome. They are not related, but they are the sweetest of friends and might as well be brother and sister. They have spent most of their lives together here at the facility our Toby has lived in . They are Toby's friends. This summer, the facility was changed from being an orphanage to being a rehabilitation center and school for special needs kids. The director was forced to transfer the last true orphans to other facilities. Because she knew Toby had a family coming for him, she pulled strings to keep him here. We are eternally grateful for that. It was one of our most fervent prayer requests in the beginning of this journey! God answered!
But Charlie and Rebecca do not have families coming for them...yet. So the director was forced to transfer them. My heart is broken. I was so hoping I would get a chance to see them and love on them and take pictures to advocate more for them. I brought special gifts just for them. I asked Toby about them and he hung his head and sadly said, "They aren't here anymore," and moved onto something else. I could tell how disturbed he was.
Yesterday I found out that not only were they transferred, they were put in SEPARATE facilities, called "invalid homes" in distant villages far from this city. These are terrible places and there have been no adoptions from them. Charlie and Rebecca are away from everything and everyone they've ever known and they must be so terrified. They will wither in those places. They need families!! How wonderful it would be if someone came forward for BOTH of them and they could be TRUE brother and sister forever! Please pray for Charlie and Rebecca! Pray that a Mama and Papa come for them and love them and show them, too, that God loves the orphan and will not leave them!
The next sweet boy is MARV.
I don't know what it is about this sweet, sweet boy - but when I see his picture or think of him, I cry. He has captured my heart. He is only about 2 hours from where we are now and I wish I could see him and hug him. He just turned 14 in October. He has less than two years to find a family before he ages out. His disability? Crossed eyes and mild developmental delays. That's it. There are a few people who have met him and each one says he is a complete treasure - a precious boy waiting for his family. We pray fervently for Marv! He has a huge group of people fighting for him and waiting for his family to come forward so that they can help them raise the support to go get him! Please pray for Marv!!
And the last one is a sweet boy we chose to advocate for during this year's Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree Program: PAUL
Truthfully, I do not know much about Paul. He was born in 2003 and has Down Syndrome. What I do know is that he is a LOST BOY. He is in a terrible, terrible institution - filled with darkness and hopelessness and walls and fences. Others have adopted from this place and cannot forget the horror of it. Paul needs a family! He needs hope! He will die if he stays where he is - he will die and be forgotten and nameless...but NOT TO HIS HEAVENLY FATHER! Paul is precious in His sight - made in God's image! He needs a family! We committed to be his Angel Tree Warrior - to pray for him and try to raise at least $1000 toward his grant so that a family would not be hindered by the cost to adopt him. With all that has gone on in our own adoption story, we haven't been able to advocate as much as we hoped. $117 has been raised during the Angel Tree program so far. Thank you to those of you who may have given! We still have 21 more days left this month to raise that number! To bring awareness to Paul and to pray hard and in unison for a family for him!
All four of these children have Angel Tree Warriors raising money and awareness for them. Please consider donating to their funds. If you donate $35 or more, you will get an ornament with their picture on it. We will have one of each on our tree this year.
I pray that even in the midst of the busy American holiday season, you will be able to sense some of the wondrous waiting...the anticipation of our Coming King. And that you will share His heart for the orphan and be part of storming the gates of heaven for these four children. There are so many others...so, so many.... It is because someone chose to be a voice for Toby that he now belongs to the Meyer family! May the LORD take these words and use them for His glory to put the solitary in families.
Donate to Charlie's Angel Tree Fund HERE
Donate to Rebecca's Angel Tree Fund HERE
Donate to Marv's Angel Tree Fund HERE
Donate to Paul's Angel Tree Fund HERE
Amen and amen, my sweet girl. Well said. Praying your words move hearts.
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