"Gonna tell you how much I love you, though you think you already know."

*Title quotation from song "My Little Girl," by Tim McGraw.  I have considered several potential titles for this post; this is the one I like best.*

How many of you remember "Rheann?"  "Rheann" is a Russian orphan with Down syndrome, who was listed with Reece's Rainbow.  She was also my second-ever Prayer Warrior assignment, after "Grady" got adopted.

In late 2012, Russia outlawed US adoptions, including stopping the ones already in progress.  Reece's Rainbow reallocated the grant funds of its Russian children to those it felt had a better chance of being adopted.  I asked for a new Prayer Warrior assignment, and was given "Isabella;" when she was adopted, I was given my "Jacob."  Three and a half years later, I am still praying for my "Jacob;" however, his story is for another post.

Today I watched a documentary on the Russian orphan crisis, "Children of the State."  It was not exactly in the spirit of the Sabbath, but I could not find a law it actually broke, and the documentary would only be available for free on Youtube until Monday...so I watched it.

Break.  My.  Heart.  Then tear it into pieces.  I had never seen, or for that matter, heard, an orphanage in action before.  Absolutely horrible.  I also learned something I did not know, which is that the same law halting and banning American adoptions, also halted and banned adoptions in many European countries: Germany, Italy, France, and Spain among them.

I still pray for my "Rheann" every day.  She is second to "Jacob," but I make sure she gets her share of prayers too.  "Rheann" will turn 15 in January...and then, a year later, she will be headed for an adult mental institution, unless God works a miracle fast.  I pray for that miracle day in and day out. It's the least I can do.

I will close this post with the two pictures of "Rheann" that can still be seen if one knows how to search.  The first is the first I ever saw; the second was new a couple of years ago.

EDITED TO ADD:  Oh! Oh! Oh! There is a new picture! Unfortunately, she does not look nearly as happy as she did in the previous one, which makes my heart flop and my stomach sicken...but at least she's still alive, and people can see what she looks like.