Thursday, May 8, 2014

China bound

A little over a year ago we started the process of bringing another child into our family through adoption. And in a few days we will be traveling to China to meet our son, Daniel for the first time and will bring him home. We contemplated on whether or not to do a blog- for a few reasons (mainly since neither one of us are experienced bloggers/writers), but decided to move forward anyway.  It is our hope that anyone who reads this will not focus on us, but on God. We pray that God will use this for His glory, to shine light into the darkness and allow others to care more for the fatherless, not out of obligation or guilt but with joy and gladness because of His grace. 

The following excerpt from the book Becoming Home (where we stole the title of this blog from) expresses how we feel a little more eloquently:

Any effort to help others can quickly become about us. We come to see ourselves as noble rescuers, riding into perilous situations on a white horse. Words we use can perpetuate this narrative, such as “rescuing orphans” and “saving children.” Of course, these words are not bad themselves. The world is full of children who do need rescue. But when our narrative subtly becomes “us as rescuers,” we are in serious danger. What often follows is the pride, self-focus, and I-know-better outlook that have been at the root of countless misguided efforts to help others. This can be especially corrosive in how we come to see and speak of children themselves. Children are never a “cause.” Each one is a person of matchless worth, utterly unique. They need to know they are embraced not as a “noble undertaking” but because someone is truly crazy about them. Whether as adoptive or foster parents or advocates for orphan care, both our language and our actions must keep this truth foremost. Thankfully, Christians have no need to find our identity in being “the rescuer.” We are the rescued. Even our best efforts are simply small, imperfect reflections of the way we have first been loved.  This truth frees us from the compulsion to charge out to solve the world’s problems alone. Rather, we are released to begin by listening and learning — from those who’ve gone before and from those we desire to serve. If we start here, we will rarely go wrong.

There is no doubt the Bible carries a clear mandate to care for orphans. But caring for orphans is not mandate alone. It is foremost a mirror of God’s heart. Not every Christian is called to foster or adopt. But every Christian community is called to embody the pure religion that includes caring for orphans and widows in their distress. No other institution in the world is capable of embracing orphans and supporting their families like the local church. This is something we can only do together — becoming home for those who most need it.

Barna Group; Jedd Medefind (2014-01-07). Becoming Home: Adoption, Foster Care, and Mentoring--Living Out God's Heart for Orphans (Frames) (p. 36). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. 

So please join us as we continue this journey of bringing Daniel home- pointing him to the true Father of the fatherless and to a Home that will last forever!
This is the first picture we received of Daniel

Daniel's 1st birthday in Kunming, China







16 months old

1 comment:

  1. As you can tell, I am catching up on your blog all at once. I didn't know you had one until yesterday. This is so well said! Thank you for loving Daniel as a precious child of God and a true part of your family.

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