What I see

I've just returned from a visit to my brother's house in Vegas. I had a great time, and enjoyed visiting with my family. He and his partner have adopted another child and I went for the celebration.
I wish that people could see what I see. I know there is a movement from some evangelical Christians to ban homosexuals from fostering children or adopting them. I wish they could spend a week in Billy's house. These children are happy, healthy and safe. They aren't living on the street in cardboard boxes,or having to dodge bullets or fists, or live in a house full of drugs and alcohol. They're in a house filled with love. They learn balance, discipline, self-control and compassion. God lives in that house, despite what some would have you believe.
Billy's kids are all special-needs children, for one reason or another. They are multi-racial, and one has developmental issues from being exposed to drugs in utero. These aren't children I see a whole lot of heterosexual couples lining up to take.
My brother has the temperment that thrives on a house full of kids, complete with all the noise, activity, and general mayhem that comes with a houseful of kids. They have 3 of their own, and are now fostering another. All under 7 years old. Whew! It's more than I could handle!
Billy and Gail are GREAT parents! I've seen with my own eyes what great parents they are. They are firm with the kids, and the kids learn boundaries. They are flexible with the kids, and the kids learn from their mistakes. They discipline with love (time-outs), and the kids learn self-control. And they LOVE their children, and the kids learn to love and how to be loved. Their children learn about a God of love and a God of compassion.
Billy is "Mr. Mom" so the kids aren't being raised by babysitters. He's there when they get up and there when they go to bed, and all the times in between. Breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner, bathtime and bedtime stories. There is joy in that house...joy and lots of love.
The "party-line" of many Christians is that homosexuals should not be allowed to have the same rights as other Americans. They shouldn't be allowed to marry, have children, or who knows what else. And to them I say....where are you? Where are you when there are warehouses full of kids nobody wants? Where are you when a bi-racial child needs a home? Where are you when that older child with a cartload of issues is languishing in the equivelent of an orphanage? You would deny a gay couple the right to raise children that you wouldn't have in your own home! How hypocritical is that? I believe that Billy and Gail have some friends (another gay couple) who have adopted TEN special needs children. How many good, upright, heterosexual Christian couples can say the same?
I simply believe that people need to stop passing judgement on what they truly know nothing about. Tend to your own house, I say, and mind your own business. "Judge not," the Bible says. For me, whatever sin may be being commited (if love is a sin) is between Billy and Gail and God. It's none of my business. I just know that they are a more normal household than many heterosexual households I know. And a whole lot more tolerant and loving than many other Christian couples.
Billy and Gail are Christians, and have a Christian household. They are raising their children to be loving Christians, in spite of the hatred and intolerance that many Christians show them. It is their belief in a loving God that keeps them strong, I'm sure.
I'm proud to have Billy as my brother, and proud to have Gail as my brother-in-law. They are fine people, and great parents to their children. What I see in their house is lots of love, and I don't think God has a problem with love.