Wednesday, June 22, 2011

it's war

right now, a battle is being waged.

i can tell you this because i'm in the middle of it.

i've heard every statistic about the global orphan crisis. i've read books about how poverty, poor healthcare, and ethnic conflict are leaving millions of children without families. i've heard stories from friends who lived in africa and know what it's like to bury a child who didn't live long enough to make it out of an orphanage. i've prayed for God to change a judge's heart so that a child wouldn't be forced back into a home filled with abuse and neglect.

but the battle between God's kingdom and the empire of this world has never been so clear to me than it is right now in our little adoption journey. people say adoption is hard -- the waiting is too long, too many uncertainties, too much money, too many ways that things can go wrong. they're actually right about a lot of that stuff, and i can see why people don't want to adopt. but let me say: in the almost 2.5 years we've been in this process, i've never been more convinced about how much adoption matters and how badly it's needed.

because seriously, there's a war going on for the lives of all 150 million orphans in this world. and the side of evil would love to see those children go unadopted. evil would take pleasure in seeing brokenness, emptiness, injustice, and turmoil reign rather than restoration, healing, redemption, and peace.

literally everything has gone wrong with our adoption in the last 6 months. we have experienced extreme disappointment, frustration, and grief. we have been angry with our adoption agency, which has essentially abandoned us and, at times, seemed to be fighting for the other side (apologies to those who have had good experiences with our agency, but we have had a terrible experience). despite everything that has happened, i can only conclude that this is a battle worth fighting because the attacks have been so unrelentingly harsh.

i want to tell all the skeptics out there who have pushed off adoption at every turn for one reason or another that we're at the point where logic would say give up, throw in the towel, it's just too hard. but something inside says, "no, keep fighting." and i'm reminded of this verse:


the Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. -- exodus 14:14


and so, by God's grace and power, we will continue waging this very real war, hoping that others will join the fight with us.

5 comments:

  1. I love that verse. It's one of my absolute favorites!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I cannot even imagine your heartbreak and longing. You are continually on my heart. It will be worth it all...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I second April. Lauren, you in my thoughts and my prayers every stinking day (normally more than that)! Great post. There are lost of times, when things seem too hard (even once the kids are home), but it only makes me that much more passionate that these little ones need homes!

    ReplyDelete
  4. amen. great post, lauren. do you mind if i repost?

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is definitely a war & it's WORTH FIGHTING! KEEP ON!

    ReplyDelete