Monday, March 24, 2014

Innocence lost...

I kinda have a love hate relationship with photos
of waiting children.

I feel the same way about their files.

A picture is worth a million words - 
but who is writing the words?

I love advocating for waiting kiddos around the world - 
but what I ask is that - 
when you see a photo of a child that touches you -
please don't make expectations of 
their personalities,
of how their reactions should be to situations in life.

This photo of our Jorja is so sweet! 



And we see this sweet face often -


But that happy go lucky smile is not all that Jorja is made up of.

She has hurts and pains.

What she learned about herself and others during her first 
5 year of life is unbelievable.
I would never had believed it from this photo.

Donovan has mostly good days but there are times -
when he just shuts down...
why?
Because for his first 6 years - 
no one cared to take the time to listen to him.

I can go on and on.
I don't want this to sound like I'm throwing my kids under the bus,
nor do I want y'all to tell me what a wonderful momma I am 
for taking these wounded children in.
What I am saying is that if you are thinking, praying, in the midst of adopting -
please know that the photo that you spend hours 
a day staring at and dreaming of that child being home with you...
that is not everything that makes up that child.

I know the cutest 3 year old e.v.e.r.
spent his first 2 years living on the streets with his birth mother,
seeing drugs, alcohol, sex,violence and murder...
when adopted and he didn't know how to process 
all that he had seen in his first 2 years,
not to mention the year he spent in the orphanage.
At 5 years old he was acting out 
what he had seen at such an early age.

Looking at his photo -
no one would have guessed that he had some much to process through...
I mean hey,
he's only 3, what could go wrong!

My plea is not that people get scared off from adopting,
but please know what you are getting into.
These children are hurt, and scared -
the scars do not go away quickly,
and some may never go away -

does that mean that they are not worthy of a family?
Absolutely, NOT!!!! 

If we see adoption as God see's adoption -
HE has adopted us sinners as HIS son's and daughter's.
HE did not say,
you have to prove yourself to me first,
you have to know how to simulate into my family.
No, HE loves us 
as raw and sinful creatures that we are 
and HE teaches us,
HE has compassion on us,
 HE disciplines us,
and HE never gives up on us!

Romans 5:6-8
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless,
Christ died for the ungodly.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person,
though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.



1 comment:

likeschocolate said...

A great post! I think most of the populations doesn't want to look at the hurt and those who adopt sometimes forget leading to pain for both parties.

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