SURRENDERED, ABANDONED, BIRTH DATE: UNKNOWN these are three words/phrases I’ve been learning more about this month. Children are surrendered or given up, abandoned…and it doesn’t exactly matter WHY…but the fact that it is happening at all cuts deep. Imagine each new year rolling around and not knowing when your birth date is? Or finding out your estimated birth date was determined by a dentist checking your teeth…like you might determine the age of an animal. OUCH. With these thoughts in mind I have a game I’d like to play with you. An old camp favorite…I hope this challenges you and if nothing else pass it along to someone else to challenge as well. Share it in a small group or at church…post it on Facebook or some other social media. Let’s get the word out people!
I used to play this game at camp…it was called Would you Rather?
Most the time it’s a silly game for example…Would you rather lick your foot or lick your nose? People decide which they’d rather do and have a healthy or rather ridiculous discussion or debate as to why their answer / response is better. It’s a time killer…there’s really no rhyme or reason to it…just a way to get to know people better.
Let’s play a rather uncomfortable version of this…
Question 1: (If you had no other choice) Would you rather surrender your… child/sister/brother/niece/nephew/grandchild to a complete stranger that looked kind of shady but promised a good life a better life than you know you could ever provide or abandon your child at a police station/alongside the road?
Question 2: Would you rather… celebrate your birthday on an estimated birth date determined by your dental records or not celebrate your birthday at all?
Question 3: Would you rather…buy your child more toys than they will ever know what to do with (always wanting MORE, MORE, MORE), enroll them in every activity under the sun, and go on expensive vacations OR agree to go with a bit less as a family, re-work your budget, and consider sitting your child down and explaining they are getting a new little sister or brother? Again, there are no right or wrong answers…but I just keep wondering…when 90% of the world will never own a car, a house, or know where their next meal is coming from…isn’t there SOMETHING we can do? Maybe it’s sponsoring a child or maybe its adoption…but there MUST be SOMETHING we can do.
So these are questions I’m asking myself as a single gal…will you ask your family the same? What would ONE MORE child look like in your family?
