A Mother's Plea!

I returned home from the orphans summit last night. The 5 younger kids were in the van with Mark and screamed with excitement when they picked me up from the airport. Mark had dinner ready when I got home. There were two buckets of grocery store fried chicken, and a prepackaged container of macaroni salad along with two cans of corn that Mark heated up. The kids had set the table and there were paper cups filled with Lemonade. Mark doesn't cook but I thought this was the sweetest thing ever. I am so happy being a mommy to all of these kids.

One of the most memorable moments from the Summit was a story that Kay Warren told us. The story is so reminiscent to me of the prayer I shouted out to God before I was sure we were going to adopt. I cried to Him and said "LORD PLEASE allow me to be someone's angel. Somewhere in Africa a mother is crying for someone to help them and take care of their children. I am raising my hand an longing for you to call on me to be an angel on earth for the mother's over there and answer their last wish." When Kay told this next story it felt as if she was telling our children's story and the woman in the story was Bayoush (our ethiopian children's mother)..Here is what she told us: She said that she met a woman who was skin and bones dying from Aids. She must have been a week away from death. Kay asked her. "What can I tell the people in America? What can they do for you?" Kay imagined she would say, "Bring me some food or medicine." or "we need money and a warm home" Instead she looked Kay in the eyes and said "Who?Who? who is going to come to take care of my children after I die? what will happen to them?' Kay said she hears the same questions from mothers in China, Russia, India and in places all over the world affected by the AIDS pandemic. When she told this story I just cried picturing Grace, Ella and Jared's sweet birth mom Bayoush. I imagine she had the same plea. I know my wish would be also somehow for my children to never forget me and my love for them. And I would fear they would forget my face and eyes. I would pray they would remember how I looked and smiled at them. I would pray they would always know how very much I loved them and would never ever want to leave them.

Today after church we went to California Pizza Kitchen. We rarely go out to dinner or lunch anymore. It is way too expensive. But we had a gift card and there were only 4 kids. Sam was eating with a friend and Ella was at a birthday party. We were greeted by a hostess who picked up the menus and handed them to a woman to escort us to the table. I started to follow the woman , finding my way to the table. I noticed that Grace was staring at the woman at the hostess stand and wouldn't come with me. I said "Grace come!" She just stood frozen with this sweet stare on her face toward the woman behind the hostess stand. I again said "Grace come." She turned to me to speak while still staring at this woman and whispered into my ears. She said "Mom...mom...?" I said "What Grace?" She said "Mom...that is what she looked like." I said "who?" she said "My mom"...then she said "Mommy she looked just like her." I saw this woman behind the hostess stand with light chocolate skin, healthy and chubby with a round face and the most beautiful teeth. I said to Grace "She was so beautiful wasn't she?" She said "yes mom she was so beautiful." I finally was able to put my arm around her and bring her to the table. I had totally lost my breath, totally welled up with tears and found that through the entire lunch I also couldn't take my eyes off of this woman either. We have no pictures of Bayoush. And according to Grace there is a grandmother in Ethiopia who has many pictures. I am determined to get those pictures somehow. I fear having the children totally forget the beauty of their mother's eyes or the shape of her face.

Mother's day is coming next week. Many of us will get dressed up and have our lunches paid for so we won't have to cook. We will enjoy (and should really enjoy and cherish) being in the presence of our children. Or knowing that they are a phone call away. My plea is that we can all remember the children of the world who are orphaned and have no mother's to hold them or read stories to them. I pray that some of you will be inspired to encourage someone else to remember the cries of mother's around the globe who just want to know that someone will come to scoop their children up into their arms and bring them back into a family that will love and take care of them..There are currently 143million orphans globally according t0 the voice of the orphan http://www.voiceoftheorphan.org . Remember the mother's plea "Who will come to take care of my children."