The orphan crisis- my heart is broken.

Dear Readers,
  Ah, usually before I begin a post like this, I spend days finding more facts, more Bible verses relative to it, etc. But, as we are leaving for Hawaii on Saturday (oh.my.goodness!) , and I REALLY needed to share this, I decided to leap off of what I have.
   So, how much do you know about orphans? What about kids with special needs in the Ukraine or Guatamala? While I might be wrong, I'm guessing not much. I, for one, don't know very much on this subject.
  But what if someone told you that, around the world, orphans with special needs are crammed into  cribs all day, on lots of drugs to make them sleep, and only experience human touch when they are taken out of their cribs for changes and feeding? And, that these kids live like this for the first four years of their lives, where they are then sent off to a mental asylum, where 95% die within the first year? What would you say? Would you believe this?
  I recently read a blog post stating these things. And while I can only hope that not ALL orphanages for special needs children are like this, I know  at least one is. And for me, that is enough. The fact that even one of God's precious children has to live like this for the few years he has infuriates and sickens me.
   I know about one orphanage in China, created by the Chapman family in memory of Maria, that is home to special needs kids. I follow their blog, (Maria's Big House of Hope-- on the right) and I guess was hoping that all orphanages serving these kids were just as wonderful. But they're not.
  Now, understand that I do not know the details of every special needs orphanage around the world. But I know that when  I googled "Special needs orphanages", there were a lot of websites that came up, telling about their attempts at making better these orphanages. There was also a news website that the caption said something like "The nightmare soldiers found in an Iraqi special needs orphanage". Nightmare?

  I don't think God planned for us to need orphanages. He couldn't have wanted His precious children to feel lonely or unloved. But since we are living in a fallen world and have come to require orphanages, they should be better than this. Would you want your kid laying in a crib all day-hungry, cold, and desperate for affection-at age 3?  Then we shouldn't let others live like this.
  Jesus cared about people with special needs. The Bible also commands us to take care of the orphans.
So- what will you do? Please- find out more about this, spread the word, and most importantly, pray. Pray mightily for these little ones!
  Remember-- “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:39-41 
                                           Let's do something about this. Your Blogger,
 Claire

A life update

Dear Readers,



The Mason Kids

 Between Grammie's birthday (where she, Uncle Talley, and Aunt Sarah came for a lovely visit), watching Harry Potter at the midnight showing, and going to the Paradise Valley Retirement Community with a bunch of friends for a service project, AND finishing up 8 grade--we have had a busy few weeks! So busy I have not had a chance to blog. But here am I, and I am armed with pictures! Let me start with Uncle Talley, Aunt Sarah, and Grammie's visit.

I loved these southwestern shots!



We drove to Sedona, Flagstaff, and Williams--the whole drive hiding this pineapple birthday cake!



And then, once in Williams, we took a train ride to the Grand Canyon.

The train ride was lovely!

We had SO much fun seeing the sights with our family, and then getting to celebrate Grammie on a train--nothing could have been lovelier! We had a wonderful time.

And the Grand Canyon is breath taking! What a wonderful artist God is!



This is an original telephone pole--that is very short! It had to be short enough that a man could reach it while staying on his horse.

 

Mom with her boys- who are, actually, Professor Lupin and Harry Potter!

Hermione and Bellatrix got along a bit too well. :)

We had a very good time at Harry Potter, as well. It was a lot of fun to pull costumes together last minute, and to be with friends in the middle of the night!ha The movie was  amazing, and everyone was so excited they would just go and talk with anyone! It was pretty cool to see.

Lupin and Harry



And I obviously didn't get enough costumed fun in this week, because today I donned a poodle skirt and went with Mason and some friends to a retirement home. We put on a talent show for the residents, where Mason announced each performance, I played my recital song on violin, a group of people came and played piano, and Breana, Ariana, and I signed to "Good Morning". (from Singing in the Rain)

It was so much fun to watch the residents tap their feet, and then afterward they all told us how many memories our poodle skirts brought up. And one kind man thanked us about a hundred times! They were a joy to be around.

 And then, after the show was over and we were trying to get the residents to play games with us, (no one seemed too interested) one lady came and asked if we would play piano again. She used to teach piano, and missed hearing it. So each of us went up and played her a song, and afterward she told me she wished someone could come and play everyday! I assured her we would be back in a few months. As always, my heart broke for those people.

Although, I must say, I was thinking that I liked going to nursing homes where they couldn't leave, because then they seemed to enjoy the performance a lot more, since they were unable to go out and about and these people were. But Mom reminded me that these people WERE in a nursing home, and regardless of whether they could run errands or not, they still were alone and we still were able to bring them joy. And that made me think of a scripture passage.

"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." -Hebrews 13:2

Isn't that a thrilling thought?  So, I came to the conclusion that whether you are stuck in an Alzheimer's home, young with lots of kids, or in the middle of 5 grade- you still need God. And we are called to lead them ALL to God! I feel so thankful for the oppurtunity to show this group of people God's love this morning.

(And at the same time, I made some pretty amazing friends! :) ) Your Blogger,

 Claire

Oh oh oh! I forgot to give you some exciting news!! Another neat thing that's been going on is that we got our roles for the "Cinderella" ballet. Mason will be narrator and Duke, Benjamin will be Gus Gus (the sweet,fat little mouse), Uncle Len will be the evil stepmother, and I will be Cinderella! Isn't that SO exciting??!! Just be praying that the parents of kids at United Cerebral Palsy will get their kids involved--God has some amazing things planned for this, we just have to get these kids in! Thank you so much!

A letter

 Dear Ones, (yes, those who read my blog ARE in my list of dear ones! :) )
   It is storming right now... I just changed my blog background, and it makes me smile. A lot!....  Mom  and Dad are on a trip to celebrate 20 years of being together. Oh, my heart is so happy for them! I love to read Mom's posts and know what bliss they are in. But I miss them. A lot. 
  So, I feel the need to write, as I always do when I feel anything! The storm makes me feel cozy, the blog background makes me feel blissful, and missing my parents makes me feel, well, like something is missing in this little life we call ours for the time being. (oh, so dramatic! I'm reading a 'Left Behind' book, and poeticness/end of the world truths seem to flow out of the book and straight onto the keyboard. Bear with me!) Wow that was a lot of rambling! I guess all those things I haven't been able to talk to Mom about all week got dumped on here. Aren't you all lucky?! What would I (and all of you!) ever do without her?
   That question has seriously popped into my head a lot recently, with us starting high school next year and all. I actually googled a bunch of stuff yesterday looking for college! Well, if typing in anything to do with Deafness/disablities on Mississippi State's page can be called 'googling'! Seriously, y'all, MSU has got to get some kind of new program in the next four years! I desperately want to go there, but the only thing I could find on their page was a story of how a correspondence class was teaching people to help the Blind live independently. That is wonderful, and I am glad we are doing that, but my whole point is that I DO NOT want a correspondence class! I want to be in Starkville, on campus, with my brothers! (God willing...)

  Well. That feels better. So if any of y'all hear about any new programs or anything at MSU--let me know. Ah, well, it's all in God's hands! Wow, that storm is blowing!

   Do y'all like my blog's new look? I really reeeaally want to learn how to quilt, so trnasforming my blog into a quilt seemed like the perfect idea! I aim for it to be a cozy, Christ-centered corner of the internet, where you can wrap yourself up in the love of Christ and all your fellow believers'!  And for anyone who has yet to find Jesus, I pray that He will use what I write here to lead you to the Bright Morning Star. (I recently read this name for Christ, and absolutely love it. He IS the Bright Star leading you out of your dark tunnel, calling you to Him, warm and bright with love. What a perfect name for our Savior!)
   Thank you for listening to my letter. I needed to write one today! With Love,
                                                                                                     Claire