I have been told that I am (we are) crazy. Not because of some psychotic episode or anything, but because we have chosen to adopt. Yes, there are many crazy days because of lots of reasons-doctor appointments, sick kids, life, etc., BUT as 1 Corinthians 1:25 states so well, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom..." I would rather be considered crazy any day than to somehow deny God's call. James 1:27, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
In my "spare time", I have started reading A Special Kind of Love by Susan Osborn and Janet Mitchell. It's purpose is primarily to encourage those who have or who work with special needs kids. (who doesn't need some encouragement sometimes?!) Within the first few lines of this book I knew I had picked up a good read, it says, "The awesome reality is that long before this child was born, God chose you to be a part of this child's life. Yes, God chose you with your talents, abilities, temperament, and INADEQUACIES- knowing that you were PERFECT for the job." (caps mine)
To know that God sees my inadequacies and still thinks I'm perfect to raise these special blessings is so awesome (since I am a recovering perfectionist).
When I look at my children, I don't see their "special need". I see my child. Whether adopted or homegrown they all have some sort of specialness. But don't we all if we look deep inside, past the walls we've put up and the masks we've put on?~ I digress.
It's easy to see with our homegrowns that we are a good fit to be their parent (even when parenting is not easy), but what about our adopteds...
God's heart is not for families to be separated, but sometimes because of sin, human depravity or the choices that are made a child is placed for adoption. It's mind boggling to me that God saw Elizabeth or Mr. M in their mother's wombs, He knew the choices that would be made, He put a desire in my heart and He thought that I would make a better mother for them than someone else out there. What an AWESOME RESPONSIBILITY!!! Yikes!
God and His ways are truly amazing.
What a great post. We could all use that perspective...makes me feel valued and "whoooaa" as a mommy that God would put these little people in my care...can I really do this?? Sure I can...with the Lord and with nothing else. I will fail miserably without Him. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback. Daily I am quoting Philipians 4:13- I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
ReplyDeleteThat goes for loads and loads of laundry or the little angry attitudes that are encountered.
Blessings!