Based on the title, you might think this one will (finally) be a nice, light & fluffy post. Sorry, no such luck. If you're not in the mood for a heavy one, go click on something fun like Cake Wrecks or Awkward Family Photos and have a great weekend.

For those of you who are still here, today I took the triplets (Davis, Hannah and Joseph) and Baby Cici on a little field trip. The weather has warmed up, the kids are playing so well together, we finally had a day with no doctor's appointments or other craziness and I decided it was high time for an adventure.

But where to go? With four children in tow, I needed someplace inexpensive and low key. I also needed a place that we could easily pull away from and make a quick escape, in case things went horribly awry. So we chose PetSmart. Yes, the store. It's right down the street, it's a quick outing and most importantly, it's free. They have birds and lizards and snakes and turtles and fish and bunnies and even a doggie day care. I mean, what more could you really ask for in a free field trip?

We spent at least an hour wandering around the store, laughing at the funny birds and following the fish in their tanks and marveling at the humongous great dane in the doggie day care. But eventually we made our way over to the adoption center.

At our PetSmart, this is a small, quiet room lined with cages of cats and kittens waiting to be adopted. The cages were very clean, the animals were all well fed -- but they all just seemed sad and bored. And very, very lonely. I looked down at Hannah and Joseph and the irony of this entire situation hit me like a ton of bricks. And I started to cry.

"Mommy, Mommy what's wrong?" Davis asks. "Oh, it's ok Buddy. This place just makes me sad. I feel sad for these lonely little kitties."

And I really did feel a little sad for the poor cats. But when I looked into that room what I really saw were the 163 million orphans around the world who are waiting to be adopted. Some of these children have enough food and water and a clean bed to sleep in, like the cats -- but many of them do not. That statement alone should sicken us. Orphaned animals in the United States live in better conditions than many orphaned children around the world.

But whether their physical needs are met or not, they're all hurting, they're all lonely and they are all in need of the love that can only come from a real Daddy, a real Mommy and real siblings.

Do you know the term "waiting child?" This term refers to a child who has been legally cleared for adoption. No one is on a list waiting for this child. Instead, they are waiting for you or for someone to come along. There are literally hundreds of thousands of children in the US and around the world who are classified as "waiting." Most of them are older children, special needs or sibling groups -- the ones that few people are willing to take. So like the cats at PetSmart, they're just waiting. Except they're not cats. They are CHILDREN.

God has done His part -- He's provided more than enough resources (even just to the people in the US) for every waiting child to have a home. The question is this -- how do we use those resources He's put at our disposal? Why are there so many children still waiting?