Exactly one month ago, we arrived back in Canada as a family of four and, after 846 days, I traded a symbol of anticipation for another symbol- one of Hope and Grace.
I put this black bracelet on my wrist on November 1, 2013. We had just begun the process of adopting from Taiwan and attended a fundraiser for Taiwan Xi En*, a crisis pregnancy center and children’s home in Taiwan that we were hoping to adopt through. This bracelet was part of their fundraising campaign, and to me it became a badge to mark my season on waiting. We didn’t know yet that she’d be our little girl, but Coraline was 40 days old.
The rest of this bracelet abbreviates the admonishment read in Isaiah 1:17 “Do Good. Seek Justice” and it ends with “Defend Orphans”. Neither of our daughters are orphans in the literal sense. They both have beautiful first moms who, when unable to parent, chose life for their daughters. Our decision to adopt does not begin and end with bringing our daughters home, it stretches out to encompass these women and their families. We are so fortunate to have relationships with both of them as distance and language barriers allow. We are so thankful for these women and I pray for them daily.
The necklace I wear bears the Mandarin characters for Hope and Grace (Xi and En) which is the name of the home where Cora has spent most of her life up to this point, Taiwan Xi En. It is their goal and ours to offer hope and grace to others in the sacrificial way we live our lives, just as Christ gave everything he had to give us the ultimate hope and grace. Adoption is just one of the ways in which we, as Christ followers, are called to sacrificially offer hope and grace to vulnerable women and children. We have 2 sweet daughters who have hope they might not have otherwise known in their current circumstances, and their mothers have grace from us for their life choices as well.
We are not amazing people or remarkable parents (my kids will tell you this in therapy), but we have an amazing God who gives us grace and hope. He did not come to condemn the world but to SAVE- to give HOPE and GRACE! Since we have received this hope and grace, we can extend it to people around us, as we welcome them into our lives or into our homes and give sacrificially of our time, energy, money, and maybe even our ambitions. Maybe you have to give up a luxury you look forward to, or your preconceived ideals for our family, or the free time you hold so dear. I struggle with all these things just like you. But none of our sacrifices on earth compare to what God gave up for us and to the prospect of eternity with Him.
Lanaya
(From a blog post written April 6, 2016)
