A Day to Save Olga

Today I am sharing with you a message from a friend.  Her posts on her blog, A Perfect Lily, about Olga back in December opened my eyes, and I will never be the same.  Today, many of us bloggers are joining together to spread the word about this sweet girl and her family, The Abells, who are trying to rescue her.  They need $7000 ASAP to do so...Patti's note explains more.  When we started the day, the grant was at $75.

UPDATE:  The Abells have $1477 in their "Chip-In" account!!! And the family sponsorhip grant is up to $4548.94!!!  Let's keep it climbing!!!


Please take a few minutes to read this message from Patti. 

"But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help--how can God's love be in that person?"  I John 3:17 NLT

Once our eyes are opened, how can we turn away and do nothing?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear friends,
So many of you already know this beautiful little face....



Olga turned five last month. She has spent the last five years in an orphanage in Eastern Europe, without the love of a mommy and daddy- simply because she arrived in life exactly as God designed her. One chromosome too many, and her fate was sealed from birth.





Sealed, because in Eastern Europe, babies who are born with Down syndrome are deemed unacceptable at birth. They are discarded as cast-offs of society, and when they turn five they leave the only home they've ever known...




And I wish I could say that for most of these children, leaving that home meant going to a place of safety, a place of happiness, a place where they would finally know the love of a family...know what it meant to be cuddled or sung to or read to, tucked in at night, prayed for, loved.

Instead, they are taken to a place that most people wouldn't leave their family pet.


A place of living hell, where they will never know the tenderness of a parent, never know the security of being raised in a family, and there they will stay, one ugly, pain-filled day at a time...until they die.






I read a post last December that stayed with me to this day. It was called from baby dolls to bedstraps.The blog author wrote about Elizabeth, an orphan on Reece's Rainbow who had been transferred to a mental institution, waiting for a family to step forward for her. Her words still haunt me.

I wonder where she thought she was going as they led her out of the orphanage that day. Did she think that maybe it was finally her turn? That they were taking her to her forever Mommy and Daddy?

And when they instead took her inside that dreadful place, when they shaved her head and tied her to a too-small metal crib

when they turned their backs and

walked

away…


when they left her confused, terrified,

in a room where the wails of schizophrenic adults echo through the cold air

what was going through her young mind?



Did she wonder if she was being punished?



How long did she hold out hope that this was only temporary?

That any minute, they would come and take her back to the baby house

to her baby dolls and teddy bear,

to her best friend, Angelina?


Did she long to free her arms from the restraints

to cover her head with her hands to drown out

the scary noises

the scary sights

the scary smells?



That could be my Lily….


It could be your child.

And what if it were?

What if you woke up one morning

and by some hellish, twilight-zone twist of fate

your child wasn’t still tucked into that warm bed down the hall,

what if your child was trapped

across the dark sea

in that nightmare that is

the institution?

What

would

you

DO?

Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. Proverbs 24:11

Elizabeth is being rescued today, thanks to the efforts of that blogging mama, and others like her.

Olga is being rescued today, thanks to so many of you...you gave so much and created such a large grant that a family was able to step forward and start the process of adoption.

The Abells have done so much already, towards rescuing Olga. I can't even imagine all the paperwork and prayer and emotion and finances that goes into an international adoption. They have done numerous fundraisers, and will continue to do so until they can bring Olga home.

Through the help of so many, a grant of over $13,000 has been raised for Olga's adoption. That grant is set aside for the final travel costs and fees that it will take to bring Olga home. It will take every penny of that and then some.

Right now the Abells are in need of raising the $7,000 that is needed to submit their dossier for Olga. Without that dossier we don't even know if Olga has been transferred yet. Here in America you just pick up the phone and ask these questions. But here in America we don't tie five year old girls to cribs to keep them from climbing out.

The Abells need to submit that dossier as soon as possible- at the very least to find out if she has been transferred already- because I know an army of prayer warriors who is going to want to know that piece of information as well. And at the very most, it could be able to hold Olga at the baby house until the Abells can rescue her. I wish I could say with certainty that she won't be transferred- truthfully we just don't know that.

Olga has been so heavy on my heart for months- friends, I want you to know that I DO trust that God has a plan here.

I prayed like crazy for a way to help the Abells. I truly believe that there is a network of people who love Olga here in blogland...a net that is woven by God and is stretching out across this blessed country we live in, and even beyond to generous hearts in other nations. I really cannot express enough how thankful I am to be a small part of what God has already done for Olga, Peter and Kareen. But I don't think our job is done.

Olga needs us.

I don't want her to spend one more forsaken day in that place than she has to.

We're not doing a giveaway here today. I don't even think we need to do one- I know so many just have a heart to help and to give, and prizes were never the real reason we all gave anyway.

So I'm just asking- for one day- for you to do whatever you could to help Olga. Whether that's $10 or $20 or even a hundred...if you are able to help raise this money for the dossier, please do so HERE...

This is the link for the Chip-In giving on the Abell's blog.  (Scroll down and find the "Chip-In" box on the right-hand side of their blog.)  Every single dollar goes to the Abell's adoption fund to help towards the dossier, and every single dollar will help.

We're calling this A Day to Save Olga, because there are about 17 of us blogging mamas who have set aside this day to blog, post on Facebook, pray, give and spread the word to SAVE OLGA.

Will you help us?

I know you will:)

Love,
Patti
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please prayerfully consider what YOU can do to help.  Don't just turn away.
~angela

Olga

At the end of September, I had a very vivid dream...the kind that feels so real. 

In my dream, it was very cold outside and I was in a strange place....another country, perhaps.  There was a precious little girl named Olga who was running away from something.  When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that some bad men were after her.  I scooped her up, ran and hid.  I held her close in my arms and told her it was ok...she was safe now.  Then I woke up.

I woke with such an overwhelming desire to "rescue" a little girl, knowing that there are so many who are being chased by the enemy. 

In early December, a friend of mine posted a link on Facebook to this blog about a precious girl with Down Syndrome named Olga. 

It so very much touched my heart.  I have closely followed this blog ever since, posting links frequently on Facebook, trying to get others to see the stories.  You see, God had prepared me with that dream...and now He was showing me the ugly truth of it. 

My eyes were opened.

This sweet Olga has been so much a part of my thoughts and prayers and heart since then.  She is what prompted me to start this blog.  There are many other facets to my story with Olga that show how much God is in the details.  Maybe someday I will share those pieces of the story.  But, let me just say that she will always be in my prayers and a part of my life....for she truly changed me. 

Olga was a Divine Interruption.

Sign here, please.

I want.  Please give it to me...soon.
I want.  Please make it happen...right now.
I want.  Can you show me that you are working on this?

That is what I tell God.  "I trust you will do what I want, right away."

"Yes, but....I have something more for you."

Grrr.  I really do want to be in His will.  I really do want what He wants for my life.  But I have found I have something in common with Corrie ten Boom.  In her book "Tramp for the Lord" she talks about how she had a tendency to lay out all the plans and then ask for God's endorsement.  She learned that it was much better to have Him draft up the plans and her just sign on the dotted line.

I still struggle with that.  If what I want is a worthy, good thing that is in line with His Word...why can't I have it....now?  Wow.  How impatient am I?!

He has clearly shown me this week that His answer is not necessarily no...He just has other things He is working out first.  So I sit.  And wait.  And trust.  And watch Him do things in the process that I never imagined could be done. 

While I am waiting, He is working.

He is teaching me right now.  Teaching me that He doesn't hold out on you just to show you He can.  He is working.  He is orchestrating.  He is refining you.  He is using your experience to touch others.  He is putting all the pieces in place.  He is removing your notion that you have the ability to do it all on your own.  He is giving you time to realize that He has the power to work the miracles, not you.  He wants to bless you.

"Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!"  Isaiah 30:18

Blessed are all who wait for him.  Blessed.

I must admit, it doesn't feel like a blessing to wait.  But maybe my waiting is blessing others.  And maybe someday I will look back at my time of waiting and be able to see the full picture of the blessing in my own life as well.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."  2 Corinthians 1:3-4

God helps us through our struggles so that we may help others.  These two verses speak of God as being a God of compassion.  Dictionary.com defines compassion as "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering."  God does not desire for us to stay in the difficulty.  He works to alleviate the suffering.  He sends others who understand to help us, so that the waiting will be bearable.

How thankful I am of dear friends who understand!  I can never fully express how much they help!  And I hope that I can be that help to others as well. 

I have been finding so many amazing scriptures of comfort and hope and encouragement.  Scriptures that show me how amazing and powerful God is.  It is not through my strength, my wit, my wisdom, my abilities that anything happens.  It is all God.  I pray that the process, the journey, the waiting, and whatever comes of it all, will glorify Him.  And that at some point, I might get better at this waiting thing and learn to let Him draft up the plans for me to sign on the dotted line!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory...for ever and ever! Amen."  Ephesians 3:20-21

Psalm 130

OUT of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD;
Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications.

If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.
My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the LORD;
For with the LORD there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities.

Waiting

I LOVE seeing God's miraculous timing in other people's lives.  There are so many miracles happening every day.  So many testimonies of His faithfulness and His perfect timing. 

I have even experienced it in my own life.

So why is it so hard to wait on His timing with each new situation?

I have read amazing testimonies such as this wonderful story, For the Love of Vera.  And this one, Announcing Peter's Family.   After reading these, how can anyone deny the awesome beauty of God's divine plan?!

And yet, when you are the one waiting on an answer, the days and hours are so painfully and silently long.

Yet, I am reminded over and over again:  If we let Him, He will orchestrate such incredible beauty in our lives in such a way that we will be left speechless.  His plan and His timing are so much more amazing than we can ever even dream of!

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD. 
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts." 
                                               Isaiah 55:8-9

What if it were your child?

God is so faithful to answer prayers that are in His will.  Over the past couple years I have read alot of books with heart-breaking stories, some biographies, some historical fiction.  About a year ago, while reading some of the historical fiction and sobbing my eyes out, I cried out to God.  I asked Him to open my eyes to see what He sees...to break my heart for the things that break His heart.  Boy, has He ever answered that prayer! 

These days it feels as if my heart is going to literally burst.  Do you know that feeling?  My chest actually physically aches.  Both last night and this morning, I felt like it took every ounce of my strength and concentration to not break down into the ugly cry.  Oh, how heavy my heart feels!

Today, I got to spend my morning snuggling precious babies.  I helped out in the nursery at our Bible Study.  We had four sweet little ones, and four of us adults to care for them.  While I thoroughly enjoyed playing with them, watching them giggle and rocking them to sleep...I could not stop thinking about all the children who never experience this.  All those precious babies in orphanages around the globe who never giggle at their caregiver, who don't get rocked to sleep, who don't get cereal-o's to snack on just because.  The thousands of beautiful children who spend their days laying or sitting in a crib crying because there is no one to pick them up, who don't know what it is to play, who don't get their diaper changed but maybe once a day.  The children who don't know what a loving embrace feels like, who don't know what safety and peace and joy and warmth and love feel like.  All because they are not "perfect". 

I want you to take a minute and picture your own children.  Whether they are little now or were long ago, picture your child as a toddler.  Now imagine that someone took that child away from you and put them into one of these orphanages where they were not hugged and not loved and not cared for, but rather neglected and ignored and abused and forgotten.  They were forced to stay in their crib all day long...in a room full of cribs with crying children who were never attended to...a room that smelled horrendously from all the children made to sit in their own filth...  A place where they barely got enough food to sustain them, and no one ever picked them up to cuddle them.  Endless days of dreadful existence. 

And your child is there, crying out for Mommy and Daddy to come...crying out for nothing more than to feel loved and secure and safe.

Could you turn your back on your child?  Leave them there?  Say it is not your problem?  It is not your "calling" to go rescue them?  Someone else needs to do it?

No?  Then why do you turn your back on the ones that are there? 

You may not have been the one who abandoned them.  But you are the one who is ignoring and neglecting them.

If that were your child over there, you would stop at nothing to save them.  No one and no thing would stop you from getting there as fast as you could to rescue them.  Your thoughts and actions would be consumed with trying to get them back into your loving arms and safe home.  You would be appalled and disgusted by what you saw there.  You would be angry that anyone could do that to a child.

So why don't you feel that way now?  Are those children any less deserving of love than the ones in your home?   Is it ok that they are treated that way?  Should you just leave them there and do nothing because they are not your responsibility?  Of course not!

It is your responsibility!  It is your calling! 

"Defend the cause of the fatherless..."  Isaiah 1:17

Doing nothing is not an option.  God says clearly in many places in the Bible that we are to take care of the fatherless.  In the book of Deuteronomy, He gave the Israelites many laws and instructions on how to live.  In there He repeated many times how they were to provide for the fatherless.  Does He care about the orphans less now, in today's society?  I'm pretty sure the answer to that is absolutely not!  He loves them and wants them taken care of just as much today as ever. 

"If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered."  Proverbs 21:13

So why do we go about our lives thinking that it is someone else's problem to deal with?  We live in a nice, suburban bubble here in America.  Even if we "struggle" a little financially, we still have no idea what much of the world's "struggling" looks like.  And instead of reaching out and trying to educate ourselves on the matter and figure out a way we can help, we gladly put on our blinders so that we can fully concentrate on our own lives.

"Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves!"  Ezekiel 34:2

You need to prayerfully consider what you can do to help.  As I said before, doing nothing is not an option.  Can you financially support a family who is adopting?  Can you babysit for a family who needs to take the training classes?  Can you make meals for the family who just brought their child home?  Can you donate $10 or $25 a month to an adoption grant, such as the ones on Reece's Rainbow?  Could you use your tax return to help a child get a home?  Can you forward this post to others?  Can you educate and encourage others to take off their blinders?

Could you open your heart and home to another child?

No matter what it is, trust God to help you...financially, emotionally, physically.  He is faithful!  You won't have to do it on your own.  Whatever it is.

Just do something!

And, may I make one more suggestion?  Don't pray, "Lord, let my heart be broken with the things that break your heart" unless you are really prepared for it to happen in a big way!

Praising Our Weaknesses?

Here is another old "note" that I posted on Facebook a while back.  This note came about because I was watching a lot of "House Hunters" episodes at the time and had noticed a trend with the women on the program.  I was struck by how many of them were looking for a large closet to fill with shoes and clothes.  At the same time, they really didn't care about the kitchen, as they had no plans to use it anyway.  It just bothered me, and I said so in a status update on my page, which quickly turned into a debate on gender roles.  So, I attempted to explain my frustrations better in this note.

I don't believe that the woman must always cook.  My husband is a wonderful cook, and I thoroughly enjoy the times he prepares our meals!  I don't believe it is wrong to indulge yourself occasionally.  I certainly do from time to time.  What bothers me is the attitude that is so prevalent in today's culture...the message we are being fed as women: 

"It is all about you.  You need more things.  You should pamper yourself as much as possible.  Don't waste your life at home taking care of your husband and children...there are more important things, more exciting things you could be doing, you should be doing.  Cooking, washing dishes, doing laundry, cleaning your house, teaching your children...these things are beneath you.  These things aren't your strong-suit.  You would be wasting your talents and your life if you spent your time doing these.  If you don't enjoy it, don't do it!  Pay someone else to do it.  Get a job.  Climb that corporate ladder.  Then you will have the money to buy all the stuff you want.  Because that's what matters in life.  The more you have, the happier you will be!"

Really?

Is that why we continue to see the news reports of people who seem to "have it all" committing suicide?  What about the normalcy of being on antidepressants or antianxiety medication?  An article on CNNhealth from July of 2007 states, "The use of antidepressants and other psychotropic drugs -- those that affect brain chemistry -- has skyrocketed over the last decade.  Adult use of antidepressants almost tripled between the periods 1988-1994 and 1999-2000.  Between 1995 and 2002, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the use of these drugs rose 48 percent, the CDC reported."  Today, we have way more "stuff" than our grandparents had.  As women, we have more "opportunities" than ever before. 

So why are we so miserable? 

I would have to agree with Dr. Ronald Dworkin, a Maryland anesthesiologist and senior fellow at Washington's Hudson Institute who was quoted in this article, "Doctors are now medicating unhappiness," said Dworkin. "Too many people take drugs when they really need to be making changes in their lives."  And what changes do they need to make?  I would suggest eliminating the materialism, to start.   The message of 'more is better' is a lie.  When you try to fill the emptiness with more "accomplishments" and material possessions, all you find is more emptiness.

So, what will fill that void?  The answer is God. 

"O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you." Psalm 84:12 

"Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway." Proverbs 8:34 

The books of Psalms and Proverbs are filled with statements like these.  God fills our emptiness with Himself, His ways and His blessings.  Children are included in that: "Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him...Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Psalm 127:3,5  Our children are a blessing from God...not a burden.  Jesus shows us how He views children in Mark chapters 9 and 10.  Mark 9:37 goes so far as to say, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me." 

Are we valuing our children this much?  Do we see them in this light?  When we serve our children and give our lives for them, we are serving and giving our lives for Jesus!  That is NOT a waste of our lives!  That is the most meaningful and wonderful thing we could possibly do!

Matthew 20:26 shows us that Jesus identifies greatness with serving: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant."  But it is not just the act of serving one another that is important.  In Ephesians 6:7, Paul addresses the issue of our attitudes, telling us to "serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men."   Again, Paul says in Galatians 5:13 to "serve one another in love."  Don't serve begrudgingly.  Don't cook and clean and care for your family because that's what you're "supposed" to do.  Do it because you value them.  Do it because you love them.  Do it because you love God and trust that He knows what is best for you!

God didn't just put us here and say, "Good luck!"  He has given us guidelines to follow for a good life.  Titus 2:3-5  says "Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."  This is God's Word to us women, which is considerably different than the world's message to us. 

Who are we listening to, God or society?  Whose voice guides our daily choices?

All that being said, do I enjoy an occasional pedicure, Starbucks coffee, and shopping trip?  Yes, I do.  Do I feel that indulging in these on a regular, frequent basis is a good use of my time and money?  Absolutely not.  Am I always a good steward of my time and money?  Definately not.  Do I always enjoy cooking and cleaning?  Certainly not.  Do I think doing the laundry is fun?  HA! That's funny.  Is my house a fine specimen of housekeeping abilities?  If you think so, you obviously have never stepped foot in my home!  Am I always excited and happy to spend every waking hour with my perfectly well-behaved children?  Ummm, no.  My children are certainly not always well-behaved, and neither am I!  (Have you ever spent 24/7 with someone?  It gets ugly sometimes!  Am I right?!) 

But shouldn't we be making a constant effort to improve ourselves, our choices and our attitudes?  Why have we become content as a society to accept our weaknesses?  Shouldn't we be trying to turn those into strengths?   When did our flaws become accepted, expected, and even promoted?

Let me take a minute to emphasize here that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. (Eph. 2:8-9)  It is not through our "traditional gender roles" that we are saved.  It is God's grace.  We are not bound by a long list of "rules" that we must follow.  But God also tells us in Titus 2:12 that the grace of God "teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age." 

Again, are we living our lives according to worldly passions?  Galatians 5:13 says, "You...were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love."   Verse 20 lists "selfish ambition" as an act of the sinful nature.  Don't use your freedom to persue selfish ambition...use it to serve!  That is how we find fulfillment in this life.

But, serving can be a very difficult, overwhelming, and sometimes all-consuming task, right?  Do it anyway.   Romans 5:4 tells us that perseverance produces character.  The word used here for perseverance is the Greek word "hypomone", which means "steadfastness, constancy, endurance".   When you are doing a task you don't want to do, do it with perseverance.  When you feel like you are being stretched beyond your abilities, don't give up!  When the days are long and difficult, persevere! 

God is improving you, refining you.  The Greek word for character here is "dokime", meaning "approved, tried character".  Through our obedience in serving with love, even when it is difficult and/or unappealing, God is shaping our character. 

"For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver."  Psalm 66:10  

I want to be refined.  I NEED to be refined.  I am a very different person than I was 10 years ago, and, LORD willing, 10 years from now I will be a much different person than I am now!

Louisa May Alcott said it well:

"I do not ask for any crown
     But that which all may win;
 Nor try to conquer any world
     Except the one within."  

May we see our materialism and selfishness for what they are:  flaws.  And may we not be content to let them flourish.

Refine us, LORD!