Compassion

On Monday nights we have a Bible study at our house. Last night's topic was compassion. One of the questions was, "What are some specific acts of compassion you've seen recently?" Things like helping with disaster relief, working with the homeless in our community, and giving to the needy were mentioned. But the one I thought of was adoption. We have several families in our school and church who have adopted children. I am always impressed by their compassion and dedication. They work hard to adopt. Tons of paperwork, lots of fundraising, and years of planning and waiting. All to bring a child home. And all because of the compassion they feel for the children in our world who have no one to call their own.

Over the past few years I have begun to feel that compassion more and more strongly. It breaks my heart to think of children who don't have a mommy to hold them and love them and tuck them in at night. Who go to sleep hungry or cold or afraid. And, oh, how it makes me grateful every single day that my children are warm, safe, fed, and loved. So, so grateful. I've always thought that maybe God has in his plan for us to add to our family through adoption. Maybe he still will. Who knows? What we do now, though, is sponsor two children through World Vision and donate to Lifeline Of Hope. Compassion leads us to do those things. And compassion will continue to lead me to pray for all those small, nameless faces in the world who need an extra blessing today.