A Life of Hope, by guest blogger Amie Rapp

*One of the projects in Amie's seventh grade writing class was to write a memoir that included an ah-ha moment.  This is the assignment she turned in.  I wanted to share it because when families with children already in the home are considering adoption, one of the biggest concerns is the effect it will have on those children.  We love the way God is using Julia's adoption to speak to Amie's heart!

A Life of Hope

By Amie Rapp

 I always wanted to work with animals- always, ever since I was 5. I was fascinated by the way veterinarians healed sick animals. I wanted to teach my dog to do all those cool tricks animal trainers did on TV. I thought maybe a marine biologist would be my career. But that all changed last summer, the summer we got my sister. The summer that changed my life and how I viewed it.

When I found out I was getting a beautiful little sister from China, I was thrilled!  I'd always wanted a little sister and I love kids! Already my "animal passion" was giving way to a love for teaching and a dream of mission work. I realized an amazing way to combine the two would be to work with orphans! I wanted to do something to help the orphans who wouldn't be as fortunate as my sister to get adopted. I thought about the different places where that line of work could take me- Africa, Haiti, but my heart was definitely drawn to China. After all, that's where my sister was from. And those sweet little Asian faces just melted my heart. I read numerous blogs about people who'd adopted from there and even made a new friend, Meredith, who'd gone to China and worked in an orphanage called New Day where she met her future little sister!
        The day finally came for my parents to leave for China. Two LOOOONG weeks later, in some down-time when we weren't playing with my new, absolutely precious sister, my mom told me about a family they'd met in China. She said they'd adopted a girl named Lizzie who was the same age as me. It made me stop and think about my wonderful life here in America. I have the best parents ever, two siblings, a nice house, and a great life overall. But what if I hadn't? What if I didn't have the awesome family I have now? Would I be a totally different person?  I guarantee I would be. My mom's voice brought me out of my thoughts. She said the family had been hurrying to get her because when the girls in the orphanages in China turn 14, they get kicked out. They are just turned out onto the street with no one there for them. Once again I thought about if that were happening to me. Could I go out into the ginormous world in just a little over a year? I don't think so. I can't even walk around our quiet neighborhood by myself! So what about those girls in China? How do they do it?
        And right then and there, I knew what I wanted to do. I want to do something to change the world, or at least some of it.  I want to go to China and start a home for these girls and help them start a new life- a life of hope.



Having a little fun with accessories.



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