Sarah McLachlan

Tonight my heart feels heavy....

Have you ever seen the commercial with Sarah McLachlan song as the background to pictures of abused dogs asking to be rescued?

You have? Well of course you have because as long as you have public access television and your TV is on during a Saturday afternoon you are going to see it. And while I'd be lying if I said it didn't stir any emotion for those poor animals, it really does. While, I may not be a big pet person, I'm also not heartless.

However, whenever I see this commercial, I start to wonder, what would happen if instead of showing orphaned and abused animals there were pictures of abused or orphaned children?

And then I found this:

Sarah McLachlan's song "Angel" to the story of a 12 year old boy and his plight to finding a real family. And while there is only one picture; it's the words on the screen that break my heart. It is the loneliness and longing you feel in this little boy as you read his story. Heartbreaking, gut wrenching... the good news is this little boy found a family. The bad news is there is more than 147 million orphans still waiting for one.

Can you imagine how the world would change if we did show this video on television, or a video with this message showing more pictures of abused and orphaned children? I can. But what I'm envisioning is that the outrage people will feel about seeing these pictures will be from not wanting to see this rather than wanting to change the lives of these children.

When did we become a society that cares more for animals than children? When did we become a society that turns their back on the hurting for the comfort of their own ignorance?

As God continues to open my heart as we work towards our next adoption, I feel that we need to step up. As Christ followers, as people living in one of the richest countries in the world, as human beings; we need to make the sufferings of others our greatest concern.

While saving the earth is fabulous (if you know me, you know how green and crunchy I am) and advocating against cruelty for animals is wonderful... standing by and letting children live piled in orphanages not knowing a mothers loving touch or a fathers leading hand is unfathomable.

Alone, no one can save all the orphans, but together... we can make a difference (okay, I know that sounds cliche).

After our garage sale, we're teaming up with a wonderful organization to help us continue to raise money for our adoption and raise money for orphans all over the world! How cool is that? To say that I'm excited would be too downplay my feelings but until all the details are ironed out, I'll just leave you wondering!

And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me - Matthew 18:5