I closed my last post with the comment about "my daughter, who doesn't know she is my daughter, or does she? Maybe God put me on her heart too? Who knows." And then I promptly picked up an old copy of Citizen magazine from Focus On Then Family, which we used to get but it never got read so we dropped our subscription.
To be honest I wanted a little bathroom reading material, so I flipped through the issue and settled on an article about a US Army officer from Wisconsin who was stationed in Iraq. To help deal with the reality of the daily carnage he and his men saw there, he and a group from his unit started spending time in an orphanage. The short version is that he fell in love with a little boy who had cerebral palsy, and he knew that the little boy wouldn't survive childhood if he stayed in Iraq, so he adopted the boy and brought him home.
Now I can't find the magazine to make sure I get all my facts straight, so bear with me. Life in a larger family means not being able to find things some times, so here we are. I think that the little boy told his new Grandma after he had been home a little while and had picked up some English, that he knew that her son was his dad from their first meeting. God had revealed it to him, and he knew that he was his son.
Now I know God speaks to us, and much of our family's story is based around this fact. I guess I just haven't ever really spent much time thinking about it from the other perspective of our children knowing who we are before we know about them. It is of course just as likely or even more so since children don't have all of the interference to hear that we have. And He does have a particular fondness for them, doesn't He.
So God, here is my prayer. Tell our kids who we are. Give them dreams, and visions, and insights into who we are, and give us the same insight. Give them (and us) eyes to see and ears to hear, so that our first meetings with them are like long awaited reunions. Not times of butterflies and nervousness, of wondering and questioning if we are right for them or they are right for us. Lord, let them KNOW without a doubt, and give them peace because they know.
7 comments:
Beautiful. The prayer you pray reflects so much of what I imagine our Heavenly Father says about us. His longing that His children know they are His. You are mirroring Him.
And your children will know! God loves to delight us with the desires of our heart. He will do that for you and them.
Amen! I echo that prayer.
Hi Rich & family,
I met you all the other evening at Queen of Sheba for Marta's birthday. I was the Carrie with Maia. I just wanted to say congratulations again on your beautiful children both here and in Ethiopia and also say that I think we might have crossed paths before. You weren't by chance in Ethiopia the first week of December? I keep having this nagging feeling that we have met somewhere. Perhaps in the embassy. I wish you all the best. May your children find you in their dreams.
Carrie
Hi Rich and family. I am hoping that all is well and that progress is being made bringing your two newest kids into the family. How is Meklit doing in her adjustment? Is she talking more? How is everyone else doing?
-Angela
I really enjoyed and appreciated this post. While waiting for our son to come home to us from Korea I prayed continually that he would somehow know, as we did, that we were meant to be his family. Now I have the same prayer in my heart as I wait for our last child to come home to us from Vietnam.
This might be the first time I have ever had chills, warm fuzzies and tears from reading a blog post. Amazing commentary and I will pray this prayer for our future children. Thanks for sharing that thought -- it's a keeper!
Laura
http://www.nosmallfeat.typepad.com
I just started reading your blog and I am anxiously waiting the next post!
beautifully written truths.
Jena
www.preparingforrain.wordpress.com
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