Julie -- a bit more information

I've added this information to the bottom of the post I made yesterday about Julie, but am also putting it in this new post, for those who have already read the earlier post, and might not go back to it.

Families with even the slightest interest in adopting Julie should start at the Reece's Rainbow Adoption Process webpage -- and they should start IMMEDIATELY! Even though the adoption process doesn't need to be completed before Julie's birthday, there IS a certain amount of paperwork that needs to be in place before she turns 16.

(I've never been down the adoption road personally, but I've read this in other blogs posts advocating for "about-to-age-out" children.)

If you can't adopt her, but you could help spread the word, I would really appreciate it -- and, I'm sure, Julie would appreciate it too . . . if she only knew . . . !.

I've contacted RR about a donation button for her, and will post those details (in another blog post, so check back) as soon as I can. In the meantime, the more people who see her face, the better chance she has of a family finding her before it is forever too late.

Julie

Julie.

This picture has been posted ever since I first saw your sweet face . . . over 3 years ago.

That means you were no more than 12 when it was taken -- maybe younger.

About all I know about you is what is written in your Reece's Rainbow profile:

Julie (That's a pseudonym, to protect your real identity)

Girl, Born April 1998 (I don't even know what day your birthday is -- April 1 . . . or April 30 . . . I hope April 30, as it gives you a few days longer for your family to find you.

That means that, in roughly 4 months (depending on when in April your birthday is), you will turn 16. In the US, kids look forward to turning 16 -- they can get a driver's license. In your country, "16" has a totally different connotation, especially for "orphans"! It means that you will be forever unavailable for a US family. I don't know if other countries allow young people over 16 to be adopted or not.

Here's what your Reece's Rainbow profile says:

Love this beautiful Pippi Longstocking!    Julie is a sweet, quiet, but energetic, redhead with big blue eyes and freckles.  When she was placed in an orphanage a few years ago, she did not want to speak.  Now she expresses herself reasonably well, with an occasional stutter.    She studies and recites well in her orphanage, but she is about 3 years behind her agemates.  She controls her actions well, is calm, likes to work, draw and play with toys.  She came to a 3-week summer camp in America and lived with a family, who thought she might have brain damage.  Julie was very patient in adult company, played nicely by herself or with other kids, showed determination and stamina in learning how to ice skate mostly by herself, and loved the water park, descending the steepest, scariest slide with gusto.  Julie has a sense of humor and a hearty laugh.  With a good ear for language, she should be able to learn English just fine, once a loving family gives her that opportunity.  She wants a family of her own.

I just committed to being your Reece's Rainbow ("RR") "Guardian Angel." That means I'm supposed to try to raise money for your grant fund, and I'm supposed to try to find an adoptive family for you. 

The only problem is -- RR doesn't seem to be accepting grant funds for you right now -- something about your paperwork? Does that mean you can't even be adopted if a family steps forward for you? I really don't know. I've e-mailed them to find out.

Since I don't have any "social media" accounts (no FB, no twitter, no . . . ), and this is a brand-new blog, which very few people read, where do I even start? On my knees, I guess. I've been praying for you off and on since the fall of 2010, and seriously (every morning and evening) for over a year. 

God knows all about you. He loves you, even though you probably feel like He's forgotten you, if you even know about Him.

I guess I can ask any of the few people who might read this if they would help me out . . . share where ever and however they can. Maybe do a feature post on their blog, which probably has a lot more readers than mine does? (And then leave a link to their blog post in the comments below, so I can thank them -- and read what they wrote?) Advocate for you on FB, twitter, and whatever other sites they're on? Whatever other creative ideas they have?

Maybe I can ask some of the bloggers I regularly follow (who don't know me, or anything about my little blog) if they would shout for you?

Ultimately, it only takes one family to really see you, and decide that you belong in their family.

Since it's my bedtime, I guess I'll have to put this problem in God's capable hands, and see what else I can do . . . tomorrow.

Good night, sweet Julie.

Additional note, added Thursday, January 16:
Families with even the slightest interest in adopting Julie should start at the Reece's Rainbow Adoption Process webpage -- and they should start IMMEDIATELY! Even though the adoption process doesn't need to be completed before Julie's birthday, there IS a certain amount of paperwork that needs to be in place before she turns 16.

I've never been down the adoption road personally, but I've read this in other blogs posts advocating for "about-to-age-out" children.

If you can't adopt her, but you could help spread the word, I would really appreciate it -- and, I'm sure, Julie would appreciate it too . . . if she only knew . . . !.

I've contacted RR about a donation button for her, and will post those details (in another blog post, so check back) as soon as I can. In the meantime, the more people who see her face, the better chance she has of a family finding her before it is forever too late.

Karen

January 12, 2014

Karen.
(I know this isn't your real name, but it's the only one I've ever heard for you,
so it will have to do.)

18 today.
(Even though you were probably only 14 or 15 when this picture was taken.)

No longer adoptable in the US. 

Not even with your sister, Chrystyna.

Yet -- you are only one of hundreds, possibly thousands, around the world, who reached this grim milestone today. Permanent orphans. And not only today, but every day of every year, others join you.

You will probably never have the opportunity to read these words, but I'm going to write them anyway.

This is what your Reece's Rainbow profile (which will probably disappear forever in a few days) said about you. It was posted beside the picture at the top of this post:
---------------------

Girl, Born January 12, 1996

 Karen is the older, biological sister of Chrystyna.   She is a beautiful Roma girl with dark hair, dark eyes, and olive skin.  She is 17 years old.  She is healthy and smart and has no diagnosed special needs.    She goes to school and has no negative behavioral issues.  She is just a teen in need of a loving family!

 Karen and Chrystyna are living in different orphanages, but in the same region.  It would only be possible for Karen to be adopted WITH her younger sister.  Due to her age, she can not be adopted on her own.

If you might be seeking a sibling set, please inquire!  Both girls need a loving family!

---------------------

It's all the information I have about you. How I wish I knew more.

Even though at least a few Americans shouted for you, their voices, like yours, went unheard.

• Here is the voice of one who did her best to find a home for you and your sister.
• Here and here and here are 3 blog posts (of many) my daughter, Pam wrote about you.

And yet, there is hope. You do have a Father. You can't see Him -- not now -- except with the eye of faith, yet He sees you. He marks your every struggle. He reads and understands your innermost thoughts. He puts all your tears in a bottle, and writes their circumstances in His book. (Psalm 56:8.)

"A father of the fatherless,

and a judge of the widows,

is God in his holy habitation."

Psalms 68:5

"Can a woman forget her sucking child,

that she should not have compassion on the [daughter] of her womb?

yea,

they may forget,

yet will I not forget thee (Karen)."

Isaiah 49:15

"Behold, I have graven thee (Karen) upon the palms of my hands;

thy walls are continually before me."

Isaiah 49:16

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?

and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Fear ye not therefore,

ye (you, Karen) are of more value than many sparrows."

 Matthew 10:29-31

Even though humanity seems to have let you down, you have a heavenly Father who has watched over you since conception. He knows every detail of your life: How you wound up in an orphanage in the first place. How every single individual who has ever crossed your path has treated you, whether it be for good or for ill. What opportunities you have had -- and those you haven't had.

Karen, you might find this hard to believe, but God really does love you. He has a plan for your life. Your life is not in vain, unless you make it so. He died for you just as surely as He died for anyone born in more "privileged" circumstances. His plan for you is just as special as the plan He has for any of the rest of us. He has a special job that only you can fill, and He stands by ready and willing to show you that spot, and to help you fill it.

Contrary to what many people (even a lot of "Christians") believe, God is not the author of sin and suffering. Another being, created perfect by God, chose to rebel. He it is who is behind all the evil and misery in this world. You can read more about it here and here. These two chapters come from the first and last books of a 5 volume set, covering the entire span of earth's history from before Satan rebelled in heaven through the earth made new, sometime in the very near future. Volume 2 begins here; volume 3 begins here, and volume 4 begins here. Read them in order -- they are fascinating reading! (But don't expect to get through all of them in one sitting -- each book averages over 700 pages, for a total of 3600 pages.)

God might choose to bring people into your life who can help you find His plan for you. He might choose to lead you to a copy of His Word (if you don't already have access to it), and guide you to just the passages He wants you to read. He might even choose to speak directly to you. If you have access to a Bible, though, be sure you test every message that says it is from God against that word. There are many voices out there claiming to be Him who are really impostors, out to take advantage of you. (Including, but not limited to, those voices in your country of birth who have convinced parents that their precious children are "better off" in institutions than in families.)

I will probably never know, this side of heaven, what happened to you. I have been praying for you for a long time, and I will continue to do so. If we never have a chance to meet in person, on this earth, I hope we can meet in heaven, so you can share with me all the ways God worked in your life to get you there.

In the meantime, it behooves those of us with voices and media access to do all we can to facilitate the adoption of others before they age out. Even more important, though, each of us has a responsibility to live every aspect of our lives in such a way that we rightly represent God. To keep our minds full of His word, and to live by it, regardless of the (human) consequences. To share His love, in word and deed, with all those around us. To do whatever we can to hasten His coming, so that the orphan problem, and all the other problems this old world faces, come to a permanent and final end.

This battleground-of-the-universe we call "planet earth" is in its final days. Satan knows that he has but a short time (Revelation 12:12), and he is doing all in his power to make as many people as miserable as he can, in as many ways as he can think of, and to make sure as many people as he can deceive a little longer share his certain doom.