Okay I just have to vent this....
There are people that I love and care about that can get me so BLAZING inside in an instant. It's one of the topics that just makes me heart ache.
It's when someone tries to dissuade Reed and I to adopt because of this reason: the children could have emotional/mental/physical issues that would be hard on you and may not be worth it.
Just writing that made me want to cry.
Who are we? Choosing what to do based on how easy it is for us?
I know that I am naive and I know very little about the hardships that may come with adoption. The choices we may have to make are going to be hard and even our children may have rough things that together we'll have to take on.
But I yearn to love them, to adopt them, to give them love that isn't conditioned upon how easy they are to deal with. This is what my Father, the one true God, did for me. Who am I to deny that kind of love to someone who may not have loving parents.
I truly feel God calling us to adoption. With all my heart I feel lead there.
And I also feel in my gut that God would be saddened by our excuses of how hard an adopted child may be to deal with.
Heck, I was a wretched, downright awful person before the Lord adopted me. But He still did. And it wasn't easy...Calvary proves that.
I know that many of the people who say this are such amazing and good people and I love and respect them. I'm praying for a more graceful heart when this comes up. I'm truly trying to separate the concept that upsets me from the person who might have said it. So more than people upsetting me...it's this idea that this is some legitimate excuse. It's just isn't to me.
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.
I think it's great that you guys want to adopt! I've thought about that for someday in the future as well. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd anyway, even having your own children, there is still the possibility that they could have emotional, mental, or physical issues. I think if everyone was trying to avoid things that are hard to deal with, I don't think anyone would have kids. As much as children are great and we love them, being a parent is hard no matter what. The hard things would not dissuade me from having children, whether they are mine or adopted. It will still be such a privilege and a blessing to have children one day, if the Lord has that in His plan for me.
Love you!
Ellen
Amen! I love what you said about our own children possibly having those same issues. It's just not easy all the time. I think a lot of times people are more willing to be okay with that in children they have birthed, but not willing to be okay with it in regards to adoption. The only way we can really avoid the challenges of parenting is by simply not parenting. Shoot if my kids are anything like me when I was little (actually from little until my freshman year of College), Reed and I are going to surely have our hands FUUUUUULL.
ReplyDeleteI love you Ellen :)