Thursday Thoughts

I am very thankful today that Jinpei is safe and that she is in an area of China that was not directly affected by the earthquake. The little girl we sponsor in Hubei, "Fiona", is safe as well (I've never written about Fiona but I will do so in another post at a later date). Brynn's foster family is also safe. They have all been on my mind today, as are all people in China, as the news continues to grow about the tragic conditions in the Sichuan Province. So many families devestated.

I know that many Americans may not have the same feelings I have about China. Reports about China in the press tend to be negative. But I have been honored to be Brynn's mom for almost two years now and I will soon be a mom to two Chinese blessings. While I may not agree with many policies there or the government there and I may gripe about how there needs to be more attention paid to getting children to families more quickly rather than add more steps to the process, the citizens of China are dear to my heart. I met so many kind and wonderful people when I traveled to China.

Countless families have had their whole lives turned upside-down and have lost love ones. Many parents have lost their only child. So much pain. The photos of the families mourning next to their dead school-aged child are totally heartbreaking. And those that survived have a rough road ahead. Rebuilding from scratch with such limited resources. I just finished reading a report about a middle-school aged girl who is alive, but to be freed from the blocks crushing her legs she will have to have her legs amputated.

Half The Sky Foundation is a great organization dedicated to helping children in orphanages in China and they have set up a special fund for earthquake victims. The American Red Cross has a fund as well. These are two of the charities we regularly contribute to and will be doing so this week to help out even though I still feel so helpless and sad.