Recently, the adoption world has been a tumultuous place. It's hard to tell the truth from the lies, to see the light in the dark. For some people, it's become an ugly place. For others, it's confusing. For more yet - myself included - it's just terribly sad. The focus has shifted from the children to, what seems to me to be needless drama.
Through all the dark, there was someone who wanted to bring a little more light to the adoption world. Someone who agreed with me that we all need to refocus our energy on the children. Right now, the Enemy is rejoicing because we are fighting amongst ourselves instead of working as the hands and feet of God to rescue these children. This person, who contacted me to help her in her happy mission, sought to find others who had kept their focus on the children, even throughout all the drama, and lift them up by assisting their fundraising efforts to bring children home. So I made a post in the adoption group we're in, and the response was overwhelming. So many families who were the silent majority... families who might not have even been noticed because those involved in the drama are so loud, it's hard to hear the voices of anyone else over theirs. The selfless actions of this donor brought smiles to the faces of many. For a while, the light overcame the dark.
Sadly, for one reason or another, cynicism allowed someone, whom I will not name as not to encourage said drama, to accuse the donor of having ulterior motives; to take a post in a private group and share it in a public blog with untrue assumptions about the identity and motivation of the donor, myself, and the families who were blessed by the donor. Because comments from 'outsiders' are disabled, I was unable to even refute these accusations on the aforementioned blog. Suddenly, a damper fell over the positivity and joy spread by this person's selfless act... and the sadness I felt about the state of the adoption world before returned.
Let me tell you a little something, without giving away the identity of the donor, who wishes to remain anonymous for personal reasons. This individual's motivations are nothing but pure. This is an individual who is in it 100% for the children, who has not taken sides, and who has, like me, been saddened both by the state of the adoption world, and events in their personal life. This is a person who was desperately searching for a way to bring joy and light to their own life and the lives of others. Through these donations, this individual achieved that goal, probably more than they ever anticipated.
Can you imagine how this individual felt when they saw someone accusing them of less than pure motives, of being a part of some conspiracy? Can you imagine how it felt - like a deflated balloon - for anything to put a damper on this individual's joy? This person did something pure good, and was rewarded with gossip and unfair assumptions... and neither one of us were able to refute them where they were made, as comments are disabled on that particular blog.
I guess my caution is this. However righteous you may feel, however strongly you may agree or disagree with any person or group, mind your words and your actions, because you never know what innocent people may be hurt along the way. Do not gossip, do not make assumptions. I say this not to any one person or group, but to everyone. When I was a little girl, and people made fun of me ruthlessly, my mom always used to tell me to 'kill 'em with kindness'. That's what we need to do now. Focus on the kids, ignore the drama, and replace this sadness with joy. That's what this donor and I were trying to do, and that's what we'll continue to do. I hope you're with us.
