Another Post for Today

I know I just posted a little while ago, but I felt like I needed to do
another one. Two different families with two different types of
difficult circumstances are on my mind today, and I wanted to share
their stories with all (5) of my blog readers in the hope that you'll
include them in your prayers or send uplifting thoughts their way or
whatever it is you do to help others in times of crisis when there's
really nothing you can do to help.

First is Mike's cousin and his family. On September 23rd, Mike's cousinArt was severely burned (over 30% of his body--chest, arms, hands) in an accident at his home. He has already had one surgery for skin grafts but faces anotherone next week and possibly more as he begins the long road to healing.Burns are a terrible injury to heal from, and in many cases the
treatment is as bad as the wound itself. Art and his wife should be
celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary this month, but instead, he
will be spending it in the burn ICU of a Dallas hospital. Thankfully,
his parents are both in a position to leave their home in Florida and go
to Texas for an extended time to help in any way they can. For more
information on Art and his progress, you can visit his Caring Bridge
website at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/artfoster.

The second family are friends of a friend. I've only met Joanne twice, but she is a lifelong friend of my good friend Steph from college.
Joanne and her husband Duncan have been in the process of trying to
adopt a baby from Colombia. Near the end of July the received
notification that they were to become the parents of a baby girl. A
little over 3 weeks later, they were on a plane to Bogota, and 3 days
after that, they were presented with their beautiful 4 month old
daughter. (Brief pause as I tear up a little--adoption is close to my
heart.) They expected to be in Colombia for 8 weeks while all the
legalities were taken care of and the adoption was finalized. So, they
SHOULD have been coming home right about now to begin their life as a
family of 3. However, 2 weeks after their "Gotcha Day," (and 2 days
after Duncan had to return home to go back to work) the courts in
Colombia went on strike, and they remain on strike to this day, with no
end in sight. At this point, Joanne has been alone in Colombia with the
baby for a month now, she's receiving misinformation or no information
at all, and the entire adoption is in jeopardy. It's hard for me to
accept (and even harder for Joanne and Duncan, of course) that they
could spend 3 months bonding with and caring for this baby girl, only to
in the end have everything fall apart over the formalities and face
having to return home without her and leave her to (hopefully) be
adopted by someone else. I just can't wrap my brain around that
concept, and I find myself raging in my head against the unfairness of
it all. So I thought maybe if I passed the story along to others, I
could somehow feel in some small part like I was able to do something to
help, when there's really nothing I can do to help.

So friends and family members, please send your prayers, your thoughts,
your good psychic vibes out for these two families that they will
receive the physical and spiritual help and support they need during
these difficult times of trial. Thanks.