Invisible Children

Brandon called the other day and said he dropped off a DVD at my house (I wasn't home) and told me to watch it and call him when I was finished. It was about children in Uganda. I didn't want to watch it in front of my kids because I wasn't sure what was on it. I got a chance to watch it this morning. . . . . . .

While I sit here in my comfortable house with my amazing son and watch a few extra kids today, Barney is singing "You Are Special" in the background. Lunch is in the oven & my pantry has enough food for the rest of the week. My car is in the driveway and the kids can go outside and get some fresh air if they wanted to. My other 2 boys are in school learning what they should be. Right now, they're enjoying lunch in the lunchroom with their friends around them talking about who is going to win the football game tonight. In a few minutes, they'll be heading outside to play their own football games to see who picks the best team today.

While all of this is going on here, there are children in Uganda who are running and hiding. Parents are sending their children into the city to hide in a hospital or in an abandoned bus station so they can be safe. Others are looking for new recruits -- ages 5 through 12 are ideal. Others are being desensitized to war and the killing of others. Because tomorrow, their job is to go out and kill at least 20 people. . . that is, if they survive the night in their own army's camp. Tonight, their job is to go find recruits for the Lord's Resistance Army or the LRA by raiding camps and villages and forcing children to come and join them. Then, they train these kids to kill. The worst atrocity? It's 5 year olds with small weapons. Children are the recruit of choice because they are easily replaced by raiding schools. Plus, who would shoot at a child? If an adult soldier was fighting the LRA and came upon a child solider, they would probably second guess killing that child. That split second decision could cost them their own life.

It's children who are being forced to fight or be killed. It's other children running from these kids who were "normal" yesterday! It's kids who have been a part of the army and escaped to now have a bounty out on their head. It's kids who are not allowed to cry for their siblings who have been victims of this army. It's kids who have not been allowed to be kids. It's kids who only have the clothes on their backs. They don't have food and are lucky if they get to eat once a day. They don't even have a blanket to sleep on or cover up with at night.

But then there's the pictures of the kids praising God because they survived another day.

The saddest thing? It's been going on for 22 years.

So, I went to www.invisiblechildren.com to check out their website. I feel like I should do something. I saw this shirt. At first, I was wondering why the heck they had this t-shirt!

But if you read it, it says, "90% of the LRA are abducted children". Their website says, "We care for every child soldier and are committed to their freedom". . .

So, where does that leave me today? A lot of processing. Not a lot is getting done around my house. . . But I must be productive today. . . What am I going to do about this? Not sure . . . Meanwhile, our backpack kids are being fed every weekend. . . that's some good news for today!!

Just some fun stuff

Well, this isn't so fun, but I thought I should update that the girl had an abortion. Yes, my heart is very saddened by the news, but the girl I was talking to (that's on my children's church team) was one of the first people she called & really opened up to. Please continue to pray for that girl. Her name is Bethany.

Here's some funny stuff that's been going on at our house:

The other day, I told Jaxon it was time to take a nap. Here's what went down:
Me: Jaxon, it's time to take a nap.
Jaxon: (with his bottom against the refrigerator) Nope
Me: No, Jaxon you can either go get in your bed and take a nap or you can get a spanking on your bottom.
Jaxon: (Making sure his bottom was against the refrigerator) Nope.
Me: (Now with the stick in my hand) Jaxon, your choice is to go get in your bed and take a nap or you are going to get a pop on the bottom with the stick.
Jaxon: (Running to his room) NAP! NAP! NAP!!

Tonight, Evan came up to me and he was very sad. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "I didn't get to go get you anything for your birthday." I told him that it was ok. He said, "Well, I was thinking. . . about that hard wood floors you have been wanting. I think I'll get those for you. But, I was thinking we need them in the whole house. That's what I'll get you."

The other day I was changing Jaxon's diaper. Here's how that went down:
Me: Jaxon, let's change your diaper.
Jaxon: Nope. Daddy change stinky.
Me: Oh, daddy changed your stinky diaper?
Jaxon: Nope. Daddy stink.
Me: Daddy stink?
Jaxon: Yep. Daddy stink. P U!

God is good!

A couple of weeks ago, I was having lunch with a college girl that is on my children's church team. Somehow the topic of adoption and abortion came up. I shared my story with this girl. She told me that if she found out tomorrow that she was pregnant, she would ask the guy to pay $150 & she would pay $150 and take care of it. For a split second, I didn't understand what she was saying. Then it hit me. . . this girl who serves on my children's church team where kids are the most important people on the planet just told me that she would have an abortion if she found out there was one inside of her.

I could have argued with her that day. I could have tried to persuade her to see my point of view. But, I specifically heard God say to be quiet. When I got home, I was telling Aaron about it and I was really upset! How could this girl say that?

On Sunday afternoon, Bethany & I were on our way to IKEA in Dallas and we were talking about adoption and abortion. I shared my story with Bethany and I told her about this lunch with this girl. Neither one of us understood where this girl was coming from and we talked about adoption, etc almost all the way there.

That night at 10:45, I received a phone call from that girl. She had just gotten a call from her best friend from back home (whose name is Bethany) just found out she is pregnant. This girl is 19 and the baby's dad is "just a nobody" (her words). She did a 3-way call with her friends to tell them the news, but to also tell them that she was going to the doctor this week and hopefully they could schedule her for an abortion by the end of the week so she could just "get this taken care of".

The college girl that is on my team broke into tears. She said, "I know that I told you a couple of weeks ago that I would have an abortion if I found myself in that situation, but tonight when I was on the phone, I couldn't tell my friend to do that. I told my friend about your story and how now you are happily married with 3 boys and she can make this work. But, I couldn't tell her to go get an abortion."

It still gives me chills just thinking about it. We prayed for this girl and prayed for the baby. There was a peace that both of us felt. I told her that I didn't know whether the girl was going to have an abortion or not, but the end question was going to be this: Will you still love her even if she does? I also shared with this girl that even though an abortion seems like it would be a quick fix, that eventually the emotional part would catch up to her friend. Either way she goes (adoption or abortion) you have to deal with the emotional side of things, but I have a much greater peace knowing that my baby is alive and well.

Anyway, continue to pray for these girls. I'm really at the point that I'll do anything to save this baby. My heart really wants to even adopt the baby if she'll just have it. But, I just want this girl to know that God still loves her.