Who holds them?

If this post has a time a date stamp, check it and see that it's about 2am, and here I am, sitting in bed, writing.

With my mind, my body, and my tummy still on Beijing time.

So, in the interest of not consuming half a box of Trix cereal at this time of night (morning?) I grabbed a water bottle and headed back to bed with my computer as company.

And decided to take a stab at writing about something that has been rolling around in my head since my first night home.

And since we are coming up on the exact (to the hour!) anniversary of being home for a week, I'll go ahead and attempt to verbalize (or blog) it out.

I got home last Friday night at about 2 or 2:30. To hear about that, click here.

After present giving, we were all in bed by 2:45 or 3. Only to be awoken by tornado sirens just before 4.

Welcome back to the Midwest, right?

Cue the family moving downstairs with blankets and pillows in tow.

Not surprisingly, I couldn't sleep. (noticing a pattern?)

I just laid there and thought back to when a was younger and a similar type of storm would make its appearance.

When I was little, if I got scared from a storm, I could always run to my parents bed and wiggle my way into the middle and feel safe and secure enough to fall back into a deep sleep.

If not that, I could shift from my bed across the room to my big sisters.

And life would be all good.

As I laid on the floor of the basement a week ago (really, after sleeping on a Chinese bed for 2 weeks I think I could sleep anywhere!), I started thinking...

And started missing my sweet Jennie.

My sweet, snuggly, loving, beautiful baby girl from Chen Zhou.

Calculating the time difference, I knew she was probably being fed her evening bottle and being put in her crib for the night.

How was the weather in Chen Zhou? Was it storming there too?

And then this thought, the one that has been on my mind all week, came to me...

Who holds my Jennie in the storms?

Or really, any of the babies there?

Small children get scared by storms, that's just kid nature, but who holds them?

Who holds my sweet girl when the lightning strikes and the wind howls and the thunder crashes and she gets scared??

Sadly, the answer is, most likely, no one.

What does that teach my sweet girl about life? And about human nature?

And most importantly, about her Creator?

That at 11 months old, she has to take care of herself?

That no one has enough time for her?

She should never have to think either of those things; no child EVER should.

And it is absolutely heart breaking that 147 million children in the world have probably experienced feelings or thoughts similar to those above.

When we turn our backs to these children, what are we teaching them about the God we profess to love and follow?

Are we being His hands and feet?

Who holds them in the storms??