153 Million

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

Those words have penetrated my heart for years. At adoption and orphan conferences, this verse will always be found on shirts or buttons or bags. Who am I kidding? I have a couple orphan shirts that are a few years old. My shirts say that there are 147 million orphans in the world. With the purchase of a shirt, money went to those orphans. Did it help? I hope so. The latest number I saw was 153 million orphans in this world. These children either do not have living parents, have been taken away from their parents or discarded by their parents.

When I was young, my mother used to always say that I would save any animal in the world, if I could. We had a ridiculous amount of pets, including dogs, rabbits, hamsters, and snakes. You want to know how I got the pet cat that was in our family for 17 years? Trapped it on our front porch. That poor kitty didn't stand a chance. I wouldn't let him out of my arms. If I saw an animal, alone... on the street or in the woods... it was mine. My pond turtle, Greenlief, lived quite the life as my pet.

What does this crazy, want-to-save-them-all girl do with a number like 153 million? Cry.

Yesterday, I watched four beautiful adopted siblings perform sign language to a song called "No Longer Slaves".  I watched, as the tears rolled. Unlike my adopted children, these kids were not adopted from birth. These incredible kids, who have a piece of my heart, were chosen by a friend of mine. In just the 16 months I've known her, I've seen and heard her immense sacrifice for these kids. She would probably never put it that way. They are her kids. As moms, we all sacrifice for our kids. But, she went through so much to get these 4 children. She has fought for her family. She has walked through pain that my heart has not seen. 

I recently read two definitions for the word, "hero": champion and shining example. My friend is a hero to me. She heard the cry of the 153 million and did something about it... something big... something that only God could help her and her husband do. 

Here are some lyrics from that song:
From my mothers womb
You have chosen me
Love has called my name
I’ve been born again, into your family
Your blood flows through my veins

Today, I rejoice with my friend and her family.

Today, I hurt for the 153 million. 
{I wish it was as easy as trapping them all on my front porch and never letting them out of my arms.}