Dear Parents:
I know you love your child-to-be dearly. That is why you work so hard to be frugal, fundraise so diligently, and ask people for support. That is why you go through the rigors of a homestudy, compiling a dossier, and navigating the channels of a foreign government. That is why you are readying your home and your heart for its newest arrival.
Loving that child is awesome!
But may I encourage you to also love his or her homeland? After all, it is this country that has given your newest love to you. Don't despise it or demean it. Pray for it. Learn to understand it. Embrace its history and celebrate its traditions. Savor its foods and adopt a few of its customs. Lavish it with the same love you are lavishing on your new son or daughter.
Your child is an orphan waiting for you, not because it comes from some horrible system that hates kids, but because we live in a world rife with sin. You cannot blame a nation for doing its best -- or people who are not saved for doing their worst in the systems that work for these children. It will only create bitterness within you and a wall between you and your child. But you can and should shower this nation with prayer.
Just because this nation doesn't understand where we come from and speaks about us out of their ignorance does not mean they are lying to our children about us. They are not attempting to disrupt your life; they are just repeating what they've heard and been taught to believe. And anger, prejudice, hatred, and irritation will only serve to continue their feelings. Love is what it takes to change it.
Please, precious parent, won't you love the nation of your child? Won't you shower it with blessings? Won't you cover it with prayer? Won't you be the hands and feet of God, making the most of the opportunity you have to stand up for the Beloved of Heaven ... the One who cries out for this same nation to His Father, asking Him to save them? Maybe that is why He has hand picked you for this calling ... trusting younot only to love one of His dear children, but to help change a nation.
With Love,
A Fellow Adoptive Parent
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