No Rain!

It was a beautiful day! There wasn't any rain in sight! We were able to take the kids to the pool and it was a great day... not being stuck inside all day. The kids had a great time and we finally got a little bit of sun ( I think I may be the whitest person in Curitiba ) .

We also had our last interview with the psycologist. It went great. She interviewed us and then all of he kids by themselves. She said that all of the kids loved being a part of our family and that Diogo said he loved having a Mom and Dad and Grandparents. That's a good feeling to know that the kids have bonded with us. During our interview she told us she wanted to change the subject for as few moments. She said she wanted to share with us about another sibling group that she was trying to find parents for. She said she wasn't meaning for us but if we heard of anyone we could point them in the right direction. She opened up this folder and started telling us about a sibling group of 4 children who have been in an orphanage for the last couple of years. It was 3 boys and a girl. I think thier ages were between 5-11. These kids were abandoned by thier parents on an abandoned road a couple of years ago. She showed us pictures and these were really cute kids! Now what is going through your mind as a parent... where you could take your own flesh and blood and dump them off on the side of the road like that? And never look back?? And what goes through your mind as a child... when your Mom and Dad take you to an abandoned road and tell you to get out of the car, then they drive away. Leaving you standing there all alone... where do you go? What do you do? Your just a little kid! This kind of stuff isn't suppose to happen to you.??? When I heard thier story and saw thier pictures it made me realize that what we are doing is definitely a GOD thing. It made me think about my 5 adoptive children and about how they now have a future. They don't have to worry about being dumped off on the side of the road. It breaks your heart.

There are so many children in the world today (over 143 million) who don't have parents. There are so many kids who really don't stand a chance unless someone steps up and says, "I'm going to do something." I'm going to try and step out of my comfort zone and do something. Now, I'm not saying that everybody needs to adopt a child. Let me say that again, I am not saying that everybody needs to adopt a child. But what I am saying is this... how many needs (other than your own) have you seen over the last 6 months? How many different situations have you seen where someone needed help? Did you do anything to try and fill that need? Or did you say, bless them Lord and then go on your way thinking, "somebody else will probably help them." We can't do that any longer. I believe that the Lord shows us different needs for a reason... to help. Some needs are big and some are small. But the enemy has us so busy that we don't have time to do anything for anyone else because we're trying to take care of our 4 and no more. We've got to break that cycle. If our schedules are so full that we don't have time to reach out to the people in our own communities then it's time to clear our schedules and re-evaluate our lives. The only reason that the Lord has us here on the planet is to make a difference. To be SALT and to be LIGHT. I'm sorry for getting all serious on you guys tonight. I would rather talk about all funny stuff we're going through right now but, man... when you hear stories and see pictures of kids like we did today it fires you up! We, as the Body of Christ, have the capacity and the resources to literally change our world... if we woud just be willing.

We love you guys. We might not be able to blog until Sunday Night because we have to move to a different facility tomorrow and we won't be back until Sunday Night. We don't know if there will be internet access there, but who knows. Please continue to pray for us. We will be going to court tomorrow for Marlons interview with the judge. Then next week will be more court appearances and the kids have to get all thier shots.

Love Ya,

Jim