we adopted

This is Sreemonta. I really want to adopt from India, and I think this is as close as we'll ever get (India wants you to prove infertility as an adoption requirement, and I'm not infertile.)

Compassion International had a table set up at ATF. There were probably 30 8 1/2 x 5 1/2" clear plastic envelopes with pictures of cute kids on them - how could I not stop and browse? Of course if you stop and look, it does a little tug on your heart (because that's what it's supposed to do). I stood there and thought to myself, "Alright, if there's one in India." There was ... one. I was sure if I'd asked for two there would have been two.

I did a little homework too, because I'm paranoid about "charities" that use pictures of cute kids to fund the organizer's lifestyles. Maybe "paranoid" is the wrong word: I'm aware that they exist and refuse to have any part in them. I've heard it said that if you give out of a kind, compassionate heart it doesn't matter what the organization does with the money, really, because you've done the best you can. Bull. With such wonderful resources as Charity Navigator it's my opinion that you are responsible for taking 10 minutes to find out what's happening with your finances.

But Compassion International checks out. For $32/month the kid gets an education, a balanced diet, medicine if needed, basic necessities like shoes, and (best of all) a Bible eductation. They work through local churches, so it's all done in the name of Jesus, not Compassion International. I dig it. I wrote our first letter to Sreemonta yesterday.