2014 Angel Tree

 It’s that time of year again…the Holidays are getting closer, and that means kick off for Reece’s Rainbow Angel Tree has begun!  I love this event, even tho I advocate and donate all year ‘round, it’s usually for a specific family.  This Angel Tree season will be especially fun, and interesting, as I juggle 2 families I’m advocating for, and one orphan.  My goal is to raise $1,000 for him by January 1.  Without further ado, meet Kael.  Wait, what’s that you say?  No photo?  Nope!  With international adoption you don’t always have the luxury of a photo, or much in the way of vital info on the child.  This makes it much more difficult to raise money for them, much less find a family for them.  People want to see the child, look into their eyes, feel a connection.  Can’t happen when there’s no photo.  I chose Kael this year for a reason, just as I’ve chosen all my past Angel Tree children.  I chose him because he is the same age as my Kellan.  So the photo in my mind of Kael is Kellan. But this Kellan is all alone, in a cold, dark orphanage, probably hungry, maybe sick, or scared.  My Kellan is warm and cozy tucked into bed beside me, belly full of food, heart full of love.  He could be Kael.  My Kellan could be Kael in that orphanage, waiting to be transferred any day now to an adult mental institution, as is what happens when they turn age 5 in many Eastern Europe countries.  It breaks my heart.  I asked God a long time ago to break my heart for what breaks His.  And this was His answer.  It is my hope that everyone who knows and loves Kellan will find it in their heart to donate to Kael, in Kellan’s honor.  It doesn’t have to be much, $5 goes a long way in an orphan’s life.  And even if you can’t donate, please say a prayer tonight for the orphans of the world, that one day they will know they are loved and wanted.  (The link to donate is to the right)

 

 

Angel Tree breaks my heart every year.  Scrolling through the faces, seeing so many that I know are malnourished, mistreated, sad, and afraid.  Why do I continue to do it you ask?  Why do I torture myself by looking at them, when the need is just so overwhelming?  I can’t, after all, save them all.  No, but I have seen their faces, I have heard their stories, I know their names.  I cannot go back to not knowing they exist.  Proverbs 24:12:  “Once our eyes are opened we cannot pretend we do not know what to do.  God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows we know and holds us responsible to act.”   James 1:27:  “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans…”   I truly believe that in giving me Kellan, God was asking this directly of me.  He used Kellan as the tool to open my eyes, because He knows my heart, and knew I wouldn’t be able to say no, not when it came to children, much less children with Down syndrome, like my Kellan, that are without mommy’s and daddy’s.  So He will continue to break my heart, and I will continue to let Him, because without Him, who am I?