One More Empty Bed

I spent the past year sponsoring a little girl through the Philip Hayden Foundation, and just recently heard the news that she had been adopted by a family in the States. The news came out of the blue for me, but I was so thrilled that my prayers had been answered for this little girl, Taylor. It is an incredible experience to watch a child grow from far away, to feel a connection with and love for her even though you’ve never met, and then to see that same child make the transition from orphan to beloved child, living in all the abundance and love that so many of us take for granted here in America. I made this little girl “my baby,” watching her grow from a tiny baby with cleft lip and palate, to a bright and happy two year old with a grin as perfect as any of ours. I tried to show her she was loved from afar, sending her clothes and a homemade blanket on her birthday and at Christmas, all the while mourning for the absence of a family to do these things for her. Meanwhile, she grew older and older, approaching the age when it would become harder and harder for her to be adopted. Then, when I was least expecting it, God in His amazing sovereignty brought my little Taylor into the loving arms of a “forever family.” Her new mom maintained some contact with me, sending me photos of this sweet girl laughing and playing like any other American kid. She had grins wider than any I ever saw in the updates I received from her orphanage. She now belonged to a family, and her face radiated with the joy of being loved and cherished by them. Yet the picture that touched me the most didn’t even have her in it. My favorite picture from my sponsor child’s new mom was of a bed in the orphanage, neatly made with a pink comforter on top. The caption was: “Taylor’s Bed.” The emptiness of the bed made me almost weep with joy, thanking God for sending one more lonely orphan into a family. I was reminded of a passage from Restoring Broken Things, where Steven Curtis Chapman writes that instead of being overwhelmed by all the need and the sheer numbers of abandoned children, we should see the beauty and mission of emptying orphanage beds one at a time. It’s the little things that add up to great change. So be inspired, knowing that we cannot change the immense brokenness of the world all by ourselves, but together we can work to change orphan’s lives by creating one empty bed at a time, with the Lord's help and for His glory.

Picture used with permission from the Philip Hayden Foundation: http://www.chinaorphans.org/