A new name

I noticed Peter more than a year ago. He has the same name as my son and my husband, and even looks kind of like my boy Peter. He's a beautiful little boy, isn't he? His last picture was awful--too bright and you could barely see his face--but even so I decided he looked like my Peter, and I liked him.

If you are on the Reece's Rainbow facebook page, or keep a close eye on the listings, you may have noticed something. Slowly but surely, additional children are getting their own pages. They are being given new names and a chance to be seen by a family as individuals. There's no new information but it makes it easier to share them, and that much easier to consider committing to them.

Peter will have his own page, too, and a better chance at a family! I am hoping that he will be able to get more exposure then instead of being buried in the middle of the additional children.

I had the privilege of naming three of these precious boys who have new pages:
Obadiah:

He shares a name with my 7-week-old son :)

Nehemiah:

Phineas:

I asked for Phinehas, but he is adorable... I think all three suit their names.

And this precious girl is now Wren:

I am especially hoping a family will step forward for her now.

This is what joy looks like

Catherine is four and has Down Syndrome in a country where that means her parents abandoned her and in a few years she will be sent to a mental institution for the rest of her unnaturally shortened life.

Her only hope is for someone to see her on the "additional children" page and take an extraordinary leap--decide with nothing more than a picture to make her their daughter and bring her home.

And yet... look at her joy:

If you bring her home, I am sure she could teach you a great deal.

Life to the full

This is Galina.

Jesus loves her.

From the beginning of time, Jesus knew when Galina would be born. He and His Father planned for her salvation. He knew that she would be born in a poor communist country, that she would be abandoned shortly after birth because she had Down Syndrome.

But Galina was created through Jesus Himself, made in the very Image of the Father. She is the work of His Hands. Every day of her life is written in His book, and His daughter is of more worth to Him than precious gold, or refined silver, or rubies. God intended Galina to know fullness of life.

Look at her sweet face.

Now, in her orphanage, does she know fullness of life?

Is this the great plan God has for her, to prosper her and not to harm her?

I don't think so.

But I believe I am a part of what God is doing for Galina. I believe God has a plan--that He intends to place this lonely girl in a family. That He has a momma for her.

God's plans may start with the additional children page. They may start with someone blogging about Galina, someone sharing her picture on facebook, someone asking a friend whether they've considered adoption.

But our Father--the Father to the fatherless--does not intend this little girl to live out her years in an Eastern European mental institution. He is calling her parents. He is calling her family to step out in faith. He will call others to give, to donate. He will bless them when they obey.

If you've read this blog for a while, you know that there are children who die in Eastern European mental institutions, children who are there just because they have Down Syndrome, children who are there because they are deaf or blind or have craniofacial differences or limb differences. Children made through Jesus. Children made in God's image. Children for whom He planned fullness of life.

Maybe you wonder how that can be.

God's people aren't doing their part.

There are some who are shouting about the orphan crisis, blogging and praying and bringing home the kids that they can. There are some who are giving. But the church seems to be sleeping when it comes to the little ones Jesus loves--they are abandoned. They are abused. They are left to die. Doctors kill them because they are imperfect--before birth here, legally. After birth, legally, in parts of Europe. After birth, illegally, in parts of Asia. And in other parts of Europe they are just warehoused until they die.

Not everyone is called to adopt. But everyone is called to help. Maybe you don't have much to give, or are giving to other good causes here. But you can pray--right now--for Galina. For children like her all over the world, dying just because someone doesn't recognize Jesus in their faces. For God to show you your part--donating? Praying? Sharing? Maybe adopting? If we all did it we could solve this crisis. There don't need to be children in Eastern Europe waiting for adoption when there are Christians who can help here.

Galina is an "additional child" with Down Syndrome, age 3 (almost 4).