Claire’s Prayer for Haiti
The Simple Faith of a 2 Year Old
At the end of our family worship we ask each of our children to prayer for something. We asked Claire if she would prayer for the children in Haiti. We explained that their houses were crushed and some of them don’t have any mommy or daddy.
Claire said, “I share my daddy; I share my mommy” (She’s only two, so the English is a bit broken).
Jenn and I looked at each other and were moved by her compassionate response. We asked her a second time to confirm that she would really want to share us: she did. What a simple solution, at least form her perspective!
In her prayer she continued to voice her desire to share her daddy with the children of Haiti. I must admit I was a little choked up at that point. We all finished our prayers and Jenn asked, “so, will we be adopting a child from Haiti?”
I said, “Who knows, I guess we’ll see.”
Well, that’s quite a prayer. It’s easy to discount her little prayer as just the naivety of a 2 year old who’s prayer is straight from the heart. She really wasn’t thinking about the difficulty of the thing she was asking. At the same time, the Bible calls Christians to do this very thing.
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (Jas 1:27)
Perhaps this is one of the qualities of a child that makes them the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3-4).
07 Feb 2010 at 12:01 am | #
How incredibly precious!
07 Feb 2010 at 06:10 am | #
We were actually talking about adoption again on Friday. Jenn was pointing out that, if we are going to adopt, it is better not to wait until our current kids get older, but to adopt while our kids are younger, that way the child we adopt feels like they are growing up with our children, rather than feeling like they were added later.
The only problem now is how to come up with the money to pay for adoption, and from where would we adopt a child. And If I’m totally honest, the last problem is overcoming my own selfishness and insecurities about adoption.
07 Feb 2010 at 10:06 am | #
I’ve seen families do it both ways (while all kids are young and when there is a huge gap). God has different plans for different families and how He beautifully puts them together. Being a bit on the impulsive side I tend to just want to keep adopting now. 80) We’ll have to see what the Lord allows our family.
If you start seriously leaning towards adoption don’t let the financial side scare you away. I know this may sound cliche but I don’t believe it to be at all: I do truly believe that the Lord will provide a way for those who are called to adopt: financially, home size, etc. I know of a couple of different families who are currently working on fund raisers (very creative) to bring home their little ones. There are even no interest loans and grants available out there. I ran across a blog awhile back (how I wish I would have bookmarked it!) that shared story after amazing/inspiring story of how the Lord provided money making adoption possible.
Dan & I have often told people (who were trying to figure out “where” to adopt from), “Adopt from wherever you want to!” A kid is a kid is a kid. They are all precious souls who need a family and the Lord. Our heart strings might be drawn more towards baby girls in China, starving children in Ethiopia, orphans in Russia, abused children in our own neighborhoods . . .
I pray that the Lord grants you wisdom and discernment whenever you consider adoption. I think adoption rocks. It’s beautiful. For some it is easy. For others it is very hard. I pray for unity for you and Jenn. (Also, thanks for being honest about where you are at in thinking about adoption. That is something MANY people struggle with.)
There is a book I recently started reading (and was highly recommended by a couple who is actively involved in an adoption ministry) by Russell Moore, “Adopted for Life”. And Dan recently pointed me towards a ministry called Christian Alliance for Adoption.
( http://www.christian-alliance-for-orphans.org/ )
If you guys ever want to talk about adoption let us know. We are always more than happy to talk about our own experiences with it.
07 Feb 2010 at 10:07 am | #
Um, wow. I got a bit wordy there. That was a blog post in and of itself . . . 80)
30 Jul 2020 at 09:55 pm | #
thanks.