The other night I decided to google the location of one of the orphanages we pray and hope to adopt from. With China being such a huge country, I wasn't exactly sure where we might end up on the map. The online map zoomed in on the city where we hope to travel to someday. As I began to zoom out to see how FAR this trip could potentially take us, this journey became just a little bit more real. Was I scared to consider the long flight we'd be taking? You bet. Did I have little movies of our plain hurtling down into the Pacific Ocean, finding myself on a mysterious island similar to the one the show LOST? Yep. I have been on some pretty long plain rides in my life, but the vastness of this journey blew me away. It may be a "small world after all", but from Port Huron, Michigan to Eastern China, the distance is HUGE. Distance can also feel very comfortable. Growing up, I remember various ads that would come on television that were "upsetting." One of those ads featured boys and girls from Ethiopia, barely clothed with bloating bellies from malnutrition. Typically, my response, "repulsed" by these images, was to turn the channel or look away. After a sixty seconds or so, the ad would have changed to a sugary breakfast cereal or McDonald's happy meal. The hungry, Ethiopian children remained, separated by a whole Atlantic Ocean, on the continent of Africa. Poverty, need, malnutrition remained at a comfortable distance. Oh, as I "matured", I would inch a few centimeters closer to engaging the lost. Those red kettles the Salvation Army places out at Christmas time? I would inch a little more closely to "helping" those in need by placing a few spare pennies, dimes, and quarters. A friend posting Facebook about losing a loved one or going through a difficult financial time or revealing that the diagnosis was cancer? Facebook helped me with this. I could quickly and easily post that I would be praying for them, and hopefully I would actually do that. The busy, self-important life creates instant canyons between the hurts of this world and my life. When one has papers to grade, dinners to make, rehearsals to run, television shows to watch, Clash of Clans to play....oh wait...., when one is "busy", it is a "real" but easy response to not have enough time to care for the hurting around you. Or you only allow a few milliseconds of your life to address pain of those around you. Just the other night, I was leaving the performing arts center I work at after rehearsing for our current play, Peter Pan. It had been a long rehearsal. I was tired. My kids were tired. And my "to do list", which so often bullies me in these situations, was nagging me to get home to get STUFF done. One of my students, who was still waiting for a ride home, had appeared to be dealing with some burdens. Throughout the entire rehearsal process, with this particular student, I had noticed a carried sadness. As I was quickly exiting the theater, this student was still waiting for a ride from home, continuing to look very down. Without much thought, I asked how things were going and if life was going okay. I figured I'd get a quick response, share some insta-wisdom or quick encouraging words, and get my van moving towards HOME! I wanted to keep that comfortable distance from this student's problems. As this student began to reveal the hurt happening at home and the feelings of insignificance that were being felt, that panic to "get going", to hurry, started to hit. By God's quiet voice urging me to just stay and just listen, and despite the looks I was getting from four pairs of eyes from inside my van, I remained. I listened. I, for once, didn't put distance between myself and the concerns and hurts of others. This was NOTHING heroic. There was truly no huge sacrifice, except that I would be a little later to going home and putting my feet up. But I was reminded, as I have been so often lately, that real impact only occurs when I remove that distance between my life and the hurt in this world. As I listened to this student for a few brief moments, I could tell that this was exactly what was needed. Too long I have uttered the words, "That's too bad" or "I'm so sorry to hear that" or "I'll pray for that", simply allowing my compassion to echo across the many miles between me and the hurt of this world. Words, as we all know, mean really nothing without action behind them. And for years, I have seen Amber's heart be moved by the orphans of our world, and I've always felt that by uttering my concern for those without mothers and fathers I was doing my "Christian best." I have kept a comfortable distance between me and the orphanages of this world. But God has moved me. I no longer want to view the hurting of this world behind high-powered binoculars. It is time to open the door of my home and invite the hurting to sit at my dinner table and join me, another person who spends much of his time feeling hurt and lost. As this journey for adoption continues, and the stressful moments continue to arrive, please pray that I no longer allow "ease" and " momentary difficulty" and "worry" to begin placing distance between my heart and the needs of humanity, between my heart and a little orphanage in Eastern China where we hope to invite a young boy into our hearts and home. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[a] is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2: 14-17
2 Comments
T. Williams
11/28/2015 12:38:58 pm
Your family is amazing! Wishing you the best!
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judy schunck
3/1/2016 09:36:08 am
jay & amber. this is dannys mom judy. i have factor 10 deficiency, a port, and give myself factor. i am praying for you both & for this young boy jonas. God has certainly worked in your life for him. it would be wonderful for you to adopt him & give him the medical care, & love he needs. i know a family from ann arbor that had 4 kids too. jay (the oldest)is hannahs close friend with hemophilia B. the Luckey family adopted a boy from china with hemophilia A. several years ago. you will need to get jonas to a hemophilia clinic & have it set up before you get him; i go to univ of mich hosp to
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