Reality of my World

I realized once again today how different my two worlds are. The headlines this afternoon on the local news stations are about a baby that was found abandoned in a wooded area. The baby, whose umbilical cord was still connected, had bruises and scraps. In Michigan this is big news. Children do not get abandoned this way. If a child is not wanted there are steps one can take. People can bring the baby to a fire station and or hospital and surrender their rights to the child. In Lesotho the situation is different. If you do not want your child, you need to go through a huge process that is scary and intimidating. I have heard from people in Lesotho say that it is easier to abandoned your child and risk the penalty of being caught than to go through the correct steps of action. This is why children everyday are placed in trash bags, toilet pits, along the side of the road or even thrown into dams only to drown.

I have to be honest, I wasn't shocked at all about the story in today's news. I hurt for the child and the person who abandoned them, that believed this was their only option, but it didn't phase me, because that is "normal" life for me now. I am used to hearing about children who have been treated like trash and thrown away. I am used to holding them and sharing their stories to others without even thinking that it could be a shocking to someone that life could be treated this way. I am used to speaking worth into a child's life, who has been told they are worth nothing more than an empty candy wrapper.

In the past few hours, I have heard people's heartache for the child and the judgement for the person who did it. I want to challenge you all with a few thoughts. First Moses, was an abandoned child, so there is a lot of hope for this little baby. Second, I have looked a parent in the eye when they had to say goodbye to their child. The grief and pain, knowing that they cannot give the child the life they deserve so the only choice is to give them up, is so deep I can't get the their eyes out of my head. (I am aware that a lot of abandonment situations are not this way and are because of selfish desires, but please know the facts before you judge and say hurtful things.) Lastly, I encourage you all to pray. Pray not only for this child and parent, but for the thousands of children that were abandoned today and will never make headlines, because that is "normal" in the country they are from.