Orphan Sunday was technically last week, but as November is National Adoption Awareness Month, I figured it was better late than never. As I imagine most of my readers know, our family has been twice blessed by adoption. In 2007, Girl 2 was adopted from Guatemala at 9 months old. And, in 2011, Little Boy joined our family from U.S. Foster Care just 1 week before his 2nd birthday. Both adoption journeys are chronicled on our private family blog. (If you do not currently have access but would like it, please comment on this post.)

Adoption is a big deal. It's not easy on paper or in practice. There are challenges and tears all along the way. . . . But, oh, the joy! I wouldn't trade my rainbow of a family for anything. Of course, John and I both feel that adoption is part of God's calling on our lives. You may not be called to adopt, but as Christians we are all called to "care for the orphan."

Now, I always bristle at the term "orphan." It's just so charged with negativity and sadness. I'll never forget when Girl 2 asked me, "Momma, what's an orphan?" and then immediately followed it with, "Am I one?" But for all the sadness that words like orphaned or abandoned bring with them, praise the Lord, there's enough joy in words like adopted and loved to cover it all.

So, in honor of Orphan Sunday and Adoption Awareness, check out this brief 2 minute video. And, I'd challenge you to consider what you can do for the least of these today. Perhaps consider becoming a foster parent, donating to an adoption-centric charity, or just speaking a kind and encouraging word to a family in the midst of adoption. You could donate to an adoption fund at your church that helps church member fund adoptions (or start a similar fund if your church doesn't already have one). Or, if God has begun to work on your heart in this way, consider adoption. I recently heard a statistic that claimed that if one family in each church in America adopted a child out of foster care, we'd have solved our orphan crisis here in the states.

While that doesn't even begin to deal with the millions of orphans worldwide, it's a start. As with most things in life, we can't get bogged down by the staggering statistics. One adopted child is, like Matthew West's beautiful song says, "One Less," and that's a step in the right direction.