Sad Parallels

On Saturday we went to the Town Lake Animal Shelter in Austin to look at a kitten to bring into our family. The Town Lake Shelter does great work rescuing abandoned animals and finding them new homes, but it works under very tight budget constraints and in an old facility that does not come close to meeting their needs. The paint is peeling everywhere, old doors have been boarded over, supplies and kennels fill up every possible space in the entire facility, the concrete is cracking, and the smells are almost overwhelming. All of this added to the constant din of barking dogs and meowing cats makes it an unsettling place to be.

We spent 4 hours there Saturday afternoon filling out paper work, being approved to adopt, and meeting with our new kitty. Then, when we thought everything was complete and we could bring Yogi home, they told us that he still needed to be neutered and we would have to make another trip to the shelter the next day and fill out the remaining paperwork before we could bring him home.

The whole time we were at the shelter I was very uncomfortable and I just could not figure out why. But as we were leaving I realized what was bothering me. The parallels between our experience in that animal shelter and the reality of adopting a child of God from an orphanage overseas were overwhelming.
- Like that shelter, the vast majority of orphanages are underfunded, sometimes to the point of not having sufficient food for the children.
- Like that shelter, orphanage facilities are old, poorly maintained and simply depressing places to be in.
- Like that shelter, orphanages are filled with children crying out for a forever family to love them the way they deserve to be loved.
- Like the process for our new kitty, adopting internationally requires huge amounts of time and energy to complete the application process.
- Just like adopting Yogi, adopting internationally requires multiple sets of paperwork and several trips before your child can officially become a part of the family and come to his or her new home.
- And just like when we brought Yogi home, for every child who finds a forever family there are dozens upon dozens still waiting. Still crying. Still living their lives in awful places and terrible circumstances.

Just like I wish I could bring every kitty in the Town Lake Shelter home with me, I wish that I could give every orphan in the world a home. All 147 million of them. Obviously, one family can not make that happen. But one family who influences a church, that reaches a town, that educates a state, that changes a government CAN make a huge difference in the lives of these children.  And if that one family can influence another family who influences another church, etc. then we can really make a difference!

My heart is just hurting today. I want my son HOME and away from the circumstances that are difficult even in the very best orphanages. I want the number of orphans to start decreasing instead of steadily increasing each year. I want more people to be aware of the orphan crisis both in the U.S. and throughout the world. I want to figure out a way to have a positive influence in the lives of those orphans that we have to leave behind when we bring our son home. And there are so many other things on my heart today...

Please pray for all of the families who are currently going through the adoption process. It it a long, hard road. Please pray for all of the children who are waiting for their families. And please pray that I will have patience and endurance as we continue to wait for all of the boxes to be checked so we can bring Allen home. Thank you!!