Stuck

Tonight I sit with tears streaming down my face as I write this post in the comfort of my warm living room and regret the times I have remained silent.  Times I haven't said what needed to said.  Times I haven't done what needed to be done.  Times I've pretended not to know.

Scripture says: "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them." (James 4:17; NIV)

This evening I watched the documentary, "Stuck".  I don't know what I was expecting.  I have always been passionate about adoption.  I have always spoken up for adoption as a perfectly normal way to have a family.  I have always promoted the cause of the "unwanted".  But I'm not so sure now that I've done enough.  What have I really sacrificed?  When have I really given until it hurts?  The faces of the millions of children who are currently institutionalized all over the world broke my heart in new ways.  Their stories resonated with me in way they never have before at a depth I didn't realize they could. 

Perhaps it is because we are trying so hard to get to our son, Benjamin Li, right now and have been discouraged by all the red tape and hoops we have to jump through to get to him.  It's more real to me than ever before because the need to get him home and get him treatment is so very urgent.

I challenge you.  I challenge you to join me in knowing.  Watch. Learn. And then do something.  I'm not saying everyone is called to adopt.  Write letters. Share the documentary.  Spread the word. Increase the awareness.  Support the adoptive families in your community. Sponsor foster care for an institutionalized child.

This my Madeleine.  She was "Stuck" until December 2005.  Today she is "unstuck" and is with her forever family.

This is Benjamin.  In the hospital after he contracted pneumonia in the orphanage.  Benjamin is still "Stuck".  I will not sit back and casually wait for this process to unfold.  I am going to bring my baby boy home.

This is "STUCK"