Waiting children in orphanages need loving parents.

The reality of waiting children came to me when Kristin and I went to Vietnam to adopt Benjamin. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on a Saturday and were planning on going to the orphanage on Monday to pick up Benjamin. But as soon as we arrived at our hotel, we got a call from our agency asking if we wanted to go right away. We got in the car and were driven to the orphanage.

When we got there, we saw Benjamin and recognized him right away. I pulled out a tootsie pop from my pocket and handed it to him. He came to me and I held him in my arms.

Our interpreter left the room to go take care of some paperwork. Kristin and I saw the opportunity to play with the other kids in the orphanage. We wanted to give them as much joy as we could. We played with them. They
warmed up to us. It was great! But then, all of a sudden
it was time to leave.

It was one of the times in my adult life that I cried. I was so shaken. It’s interesting to me how sometimes the obvious doesn’t become obvious until you experience it. And what became painfully obvious that day was that I couldn't take all those waiting children home. I asked the Lord, "Who's going to care of these kids? How could you let this happen to the children you created?" It was a dark time for me. I had lost confidence in His goodness.

God healed me over time. As I read John 11 during one daily devotion, it spoke deeply to me that Jesus does indeed love his creation, that he weeps over it and that he is determined to reverse the fall and to make all things right again. He has the power to move families to adopt these waiting children. What I could never do by myself, God can do through his people.

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