You hear quite often about the hardships adopted children go through. How troubled and difficult they can be as they grow up. Just today, a friend told me of a family being torn apart by the struggle they are going through with their adopted child. So I am asking the Lord to show me the Truth for me.
Will I be able to give our adoptive kid(s) what they need to heal from the injustice of being orphaned?
Will I be able to give them what they need to be an African American in our culture?
Sometimes when I look ahead to raising this precious child, I relish in the priveledge of having another child in my life to love and cherish and pour out my love on. I imagine all the sweet and tender moments ahead. But other times, I worry that it will be too difficult and perhaps heartbreaking if they have a hard time healing from the spiritual pain of abandonment and the missing piece of biological connection in their life.
For these questions and worries, I only have one Answer - the Lord God Almighty who knows every tear we cry, who gives us a Way to healing, who is the Father to the Fatherless, who has a plan for a hope and a future for His creation.
And, in the end, my life is not my own. I can only do what I think the Lord has for me to do. I know that He has led us to adoption. I know that He has given me a love for being a mom. I know that He will be beside me, ahead of me, and behind me for all my days. Whether there is miraculous restoration of the spiritual injustices that our child will face in the first months of their life, or heartbreaking bondage to that experience, I will obey the Lord and love this child - or children with all of my heart.
I love your heart. You are right-you can only be obedient to what you think the Lord has for you to do. I just came across two quotes tonight and it reminded me of your blog I read earlier today,
ReplyDelete"Never misunderstand pain as permission to forego the will of God."-Beth Moore
"Let us remind ourselves that the Great Commission was never qualified by clauses calling for advance only if funds were plentiful and no hardship or self-denial involved. On the contrary, we are told to expect tribulation and even persecution, but with it victory in Christ...It is ours to show, in the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in personal communion with Him, a joy unspeakable and full of glory that cannot be affected by outside circumstances."-John Stam
Thanks for sharing your heart on this!