Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Crossing over. . .

The transition to the "Trenches of Motherhood" is now complete! For up to date news on our family, please join us on my new family blog (and for more in depth information on Joshua and Evan and their treatments, therapies, surgeries and accomplishment, you can join us "here"). This chapter of our lives is by no means complete, but in the immediate future, this blog will be reserved for adoption-related thoughts and information and will be a place where I will continue to advocate for children still waiting for their forever families as well as the families who are working to bring children into their families through the gift of adoption.

This post will remain at the top so that all who are interested in staying up to date with our family will know where to find us, so be sure to scroll down for new posts.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

What will YOU do?

Early this week, I learned of the passing of two beautiful little girls in Ukraine, Margarita and Katerina. These little girls were living in the institution that Evan would've been transferred to when he turned four. It really hit home. This could've been my little boy. They died of the flu. They suffered alone, without a mother to hold, nurture and love them. They died alone, without ever knowing the love of a family. My heart is heavy with the suffering that they knew during their short journey's on this earth. But my heart rejoices that they no longer suffer and that they are no longer alone, that they are now in the arms of a loving Father in Heaven.

Earlier today I received this article regarding children in institutions in Bulgaria. My heart breaks to think of these precious children, children like Joshua and Evan, children with limitless potential, suffering, without the love of a family, in these institutions.

These children cannot speak for themselves. They cannot call out to tell us of their suffering, of their pain, of their hunger, of their loneliness. They cannot, so we must do it for them. We must be a voice for these children.

For the next two days on Reece's Rainbow (February 14th-15th) the pictures of all of the waiting children in Bulgaria will be viewable by the general public in an attempt to raise grant money for them and help bring them home to loving families (you can ALWAYS donate, but this is a concentrated effort to get these children home as quickly as possible). Won't you please consider donating to the grant funds of these precious children?

In closing, I'd like to share with you a poem written by Meredith Cornish in memory of Margarita and Katerina.

While we were. . . .

While we were eating...
... they were hungry

While we were playing...
... they were restrained

While we were tucking our kids into bed...
... they were alone

While we turned up the heat...
... they laid in the icy cold

While we wrapped our children in blanket sleepers...
... they laid in their own excrement

While we sang songs and listened to music...
... they listened to the screams and cries of those around them

While we rocked our babies...
... they silently rocked themselves

While we hugged our kids...
... they scratched at their own faces and pulled their own hair for stimulation

While we cried over scraped knees...
... they moaned in their loneliness

While we brushed our daughters' beautiful hair...
... they had their heads shaven to stave off the lice

While we fought off the flu with love and nourishment...
... they got the flu and went Home.

No longer suffering... but so many more still are.


Margarita

Katarina