Anger, rage, heartbreak questions, tears, hopelessness, agony, sorrow… All these words… A pit in my stomach… This is all I have to say tonight.
Can you really turn a blind eye?
Anger, rage, heartbreak questions, tears, hopelessness, agony, sorrow… All these words… A pit in my stomach… This is all I have to say tonight.
Can you really turn a blind eye?
Heavy on the heart is a common thread with me, which I feel I should apologize about. But truly, there is no way to sugar coat the orphan crisis, child abuse, trafficking and just plain brokeness. There is too much reality in what I blog about to be sweetly packaged with a pretty bow.
Over the months I have been so blessed to see so many beautiful children come home to their forever families, many of whom I have had the pleasure of meeting. Many I am still waiting to meet. But then there are so very many I will never meet, never see them as they grow and never, never, never. Why?
There is a side of this world that should never be. The side that doesn’t get talked about aside from those in our closed little community of passionate advocating orphan lovers and adoptive parents. Although we stand with torches blazing and lungs bellowing, screaming at the very tip tops of our voices for all to hear, begging for others to hear us out, to see what they have been blinded to. Please, SEE THEM! LOVE THEM! HELP THEM! SPREAD THE WORD! Although we stand, this is what is not heard… They will be lost forever, aging out and put on the streets to fend for themselves. They will be placed in mental institutions, be forgotten, caged like animals. They will die. If you dont listen, help, share, or see. Really open your eyes and look at their faces.
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Walden
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Dayna
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Declan
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Kevin
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Kyle
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Myra
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Rosie
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Stacy
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Hanson
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Jacob
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Connor James
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Leif
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Will
All of these precious, sweet babes have lost their battle waiting for a family. They all passed away before they could know the love of a mother, before they knew what snuggles were. They did not get the chance to live loved by the people they were with, but rather they were all so very loved by all those fighting to help them. We loved them, I loved them. I believe we will always love them, think of them, pray for their powerful legacy to live on. My hope is their legacy will bring forth change and give hope to those still waiting.
These are just a handful of the children who died waiting. In loving memory.
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It doesn’t have to be this way. These babies did not have to die.
Please share. Advocate. Educate yourself despite the heartbreak. Donate. Help change the world.
Holy Moly I am publishing another post y’all!, can you believe it?! Has it been six months yet? Ha! I keep saying I am going to keep up with this but alas I stink at juggling two little girls a teenager and a blog! A girl can still try though! Where has my mind been? Let’s see…
Little Emi Roo…
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My Pookie girl, Ari…
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My new teenager…
Notice a trend? He calls Emira his baby.
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My Husband…
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The kidlets…
Like precious Hollis who just came home from Ukraine to be with his new mommy and daddy.
His parents, the Buhman’s are wonderful folks who I met recently and who helped me during my pregnancy/bedrest with Emi by bringing my family a meal. They are super sweet and I couldn’t be happier that they live just minutes from me!! Hollis is 2 and he was raised in a decent orphanage. But even in a decent place, they still didn’t feed him anything but puree’d food so they could shovel it in his mouth at lightning speed. He didn’t ever have time to chew, so he never learned. Since gotcha day, his parents have been teaching him how to chew and sign and he is doing wonderfully. He is adjusting very well and it is rumored he loves to snuggle with his mommy. Isn’t he sweet?! To read more about this amazing family and their journey, go here: http://www.thebuhmanbunch.blogspot.com/
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Precious Reign…
She is 14 years old, yes 14! The extreme malnutrition and confinement to her crib has left her like this. She is tiny!
Here is a short video of Reign. You can see she seems drugged and the sad reality is she most likely is… It is a common practice used to keep kids and even young babies “manageable”. Sick I know, but the reality is there just aren’t enough hands to care for them all and so this is their solution even if it is wrong. Poor Reign has possibly spent most or all of her life in a crib (her legs are probably stuck that way from laying), being fed this exact way, drugged and helpless. My heart breaks… You might also notice how she is intelligent by the way of her thinking twice about chewing in her shirt after being scolded a couple times. These kids do have potential!
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Amazing little fighter Sophia! Remember her before?
Just look at her now! This child has been home for around a year and look at how fabulous she looks! Remember little Hollis from above? Sophia had a little something to do with him finding his family. It’s a pretty special story that you can read here. Go, read it!!!!
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And this precious child… Keep in mind that this photo may be hard to look at, but it is reality. The beautiful child shown on the left is Kyle, he is pure beauty, pure innocence, pure perfection… Just look at those big brown eyes! The neglected and starving child on the right is sweet Kyle just a couple of months after he was transferred to the mental institution. This drastic transformation is not caused by disease or disability, but by mistreatment and neglect. This child is literally dying in a mental institution in Russia… There are thousands more just like this one. Kyle has a family fighting to get him but with Putin’s ban on American adoptions, Kyle sits waiting and suffering.
UPDATE: As I am writing this post, I have learned that sweet Kyle has passed away. Rest in peace sweet one… My heart is broken for this loss and for the family who wanted to make him their son.
What will you do about it? Share it or turn the other cheek?
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Finally, this guy…
Many of you will recognize Owen, if you do not, please visit my beloved introduction of him on this page. I have advocated for him many times and he holds a special place in my heart. Everyday I wonder how he is doing. You see he, like Precious Kyle picture above, is in Russia. I pray he has been found by a loving family in a “permitted” geographical location, that he is healthy, happy, and no longer waiting. I dread learning that he has been transferred to a mental institution. Please pray with me that this ban is lifted, that the children will be covered and safe and that changes will be made to improve the care they receive. Love you sweet boy!
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So my brain has been all over the place and rightfully so, this isn’t even the half of it! I do hope that some of you will be compelled to share and pray this blog, this post, really any part of my site you find moving enough to do so. Sharing is really my main goal here. The more people learn about all this, the more change can be made, the more prayers, the more good can be done! God bless!