Our life experiences have so much influence on our thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs. Because of God’s plan for our family, adoption is "normal" for our biological daughter. All of her siblings joined our family by adoption, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at her unquestioning acceptance. However, occasionally, an incident arises that reminds me again, just how "ordinary" adoption is in her mind. Let me share an example .
Recently, family members (I’ll call them Bob and Sue) announced that they were expecting a baby (their fourth blessing) at the end of the summer. Happy congratulations ensued before our evening of fellowship ended. Back home, however, my daughter and I had an interesting conversation.
Daughter: "Mom, I’m really surprised Bob and Sue are going to have another baby."
Me: (somewhat taken aback, as my daughter loves newborn babes) "Why are you surprised?"
Daughter: "Well, they already have 3 kids."
Me: "Yes, but we have 3 children too, and we are adopting another."
Daughter: "Well, yeah, but that’s what I mean. They’ve already had 3. I just thought they would want to adopt by now."
Me: smile and think, "This girl is going to adopt someday."
After our conversation, I was humbled by God’s goodness to us. I was overwhelmed at the reminder, that to my biological daughter, adoption is a precious, beautiful, worthy, and desirable way to build a family. Her experiences and God’s plan for our family, have shaped her point of view. At 10 years old, she isn’t surprised that some children are adopted, but rather, that not all families adopt. As her mother, I’m thankful for her point of view, and more than a little curious to see just what God has planned for a girl with "adoption colored" glasses.
