Americans disturbed by the abandonment of children around the world, ignore the subliminal "child hating spirit" in our own country. Isn't this the story of "No Room at the Inn" revisited? Establishments boast "NO STROLLERS ALLOWED" signs at their front door. The attitude began on the architect's drawing board. Champions of children deplore absentee parents and children needlessly being sent of to day care centers while parents pursue worldly gain. Yet even in our churches - families are often separated for worship time. What happened to real family worship when the entire family had a favorite pew in the sanctuary? Have pastors' egos become so large and people's attention spans so small that we can no longer endure the training process of teaching a child to behave properly in church?

While Christmas shopping, our daughter and son-in-law took their two-year-old son to a diner at Kansas City, Missouri's prestigious Crown Center. A "Manager's Edict" prohibited the use of the establishment's own booster seats because they might damage the leather seats. Even an offer to put a coat between the leather chair and the booster seat was denied. One couple gave our grandson a look of disdain and left the diner. Was the possibility of dining anywhere near a child too much of an ordeal for their refined taste?

The staff's attitude and actions made it perfectly clear that our grandson was not welcome at their Crown Center establishment. What a difference attitude makes! I compared their meal at Crown Center with the one we shared at the orphanage in China. Our grandson would have felt right at home at the little, primitive, wooden tables and chairs we completely rearranged for our picnic.

Nine months ago, I saw a picture of a little girl in the Children's Hope International newsletter. Her name was Zheng Kang. As I gazed at her picture, God touched my heart, and tears poured down my face. Working through Children's Hope International, we wrote a special letter to the officials of the Chinese government asking to adopt her. God granted our wish in a most wonderful way. We flew to China on November 28, 1999, our 29th Wedding Anniversary. We signed papers promising to take care of Sara Zheng-Kang Norwood forever. Children are a gift from God. They are a miracle - no matter how God chooses to send them to us.

The millennium has arrived. It is past time to examine our attitudes and actions on behalf of children around the world. Jesus aid, "Suffer the little children to come unto me...and forbid them not." He taught his disciples saying that in His Kingdom children are considered the greatest of all...and to enter in...we must humble ourselves as a little child.

Credits: Mary Marcia Lee Norwood