Beautiful Love

Information is limited when you are adopting internationally, so most adoptive parents spend time Googling, trying to find photos of their child that other parents have taken. It had been a while since I had done this, so yesterday I went on a hunt.

The photos I found were moving. Apparently Moses' facility has changed, and he now has a playground and some toys. It was SO good to see his smiling face playing outside.

My favorite photo, however, showed him sitting on a bed with his arm around another little boy in his orphanage. It looks like his friend (the boy in the red shirt) has Down's Syndrome.

There are several reasons why this photo means so much to me. First, I love the ease of his affection. There is quite a bit of emotional damage that can happen in group care. Children often suffer physiological damage from a lack of physical touch. They don't want to be touched or held as a result, and they tense up whenever human contact is made. So, to see him just sitting there, casually loving his buddy makes me want to shout! Another prayer answered!!

Secondly, I love how Moses has been exposed to love without prejudice. As I searched, I found photos of a child living in his facility who was disfigured grotesquely by burns. There are kids who are crippled. And there are kids like the child in this photo who have extra mental challenges.



Living in my comfortable, American home, Moses would have been distanced from these children. He might have learned to flinch when exposed to deformity and need, because those things just aren't a part of my daily life. But because of the past God has given him, Moses has already been taught to accept and love people where they are. He's learned to move into broken lives, and put his arm around his brother. I'm so thankful for that.

I'm praying that God will preserve this trait in his heart. And I'm praying that it will rub off on the rest of us as well.