This past weekend, my grandmother from a small community in northern Georgia visited with our family. My grandmother comes from a Southern era that heavily supported white supremacy. When we announced that we were officially switching our adoption journey from Ukraine to Ethiopia, I was very hesitant to tell my seventy-six year old grandmother because I knew all about the era in which she was raised. Of course, when I first told her the line went silent and then she started firing questions at me - questions like how long will you be overseas this time, what age of child will you be adopting, will it be a boy or girl, and you know people will say negative things about your adopting a black child, so how are you going to handle that - not once did she even hint that she couldn't love the child as her own. There have been some conversations about how the child will be affected and how our son, Ashton, will be affected, however I can see that God is working in her heart. She's told some of her friends and has been amazed at their supportive comments and for those with questions or negative responses, she has stood her ground and stated that love knows no color...you go, Nanny!
I must say that I was really concerned about how this news would affect my grandmother. Well, on the way back from taking her home yesterday, my mother and I were talking about how God prepares us for life. About 2 years ago, my grandmother's church's music director resigned and was replaced by a black man married to a white woman - you can only imagine how this divided the congregation in this little Southern town. My grandmother adores the music director and learned then that God loves all people, regardless of skin color, and that as God's child she should love and support everyone and even more importantly, take a stand for what is right. My mother and I truly believe that God used this situation to help prepare my grandmother for the newest member of our family. What an awesome God we serve!
On the way to take Nanny home, we stopped at a nursing home to see one of my uncles who suffered a stroke in 2005 or so. Now, he is originally from a small town just down the road from where Nanny lives, so he has generally been pretty racist as well. Actually, several years ago he got into a huge argument with one of my cousins because she married and gave birth to two of the most beautiful little girls on this earth - they are biracial and guess what, totally accepted and loved by all of us. Well, when I was talking with my uncle yesterday, I told him of the failed Ukrainian adoption and that we had switched our country to Ethiopia. My mother later asked me if I was anxious about telling him of the country swap because of his previous prejudicial attitude. I can honestly say that not one time did I question what his reaction would be. Never in my life has my uncle not supported me or my decisions. He may like to aggravate me but he loves me even more. Not only that, but I have seen the love in his eyes and have heard him speak of how wonderful my cousin's children are. My cousin helped to pave the way for the road that God is leading us down. Once again, God began preparing us - and our family - for this new child years ago.
One of the last entries on our Ukrainian blog talks briefly about the negativity that we have faced about our decision to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia. When I was working on our online course about the Hague Convention and how the treaty affects adoption, I read an article entitled "An Unmatched Set." By your reading this blog, it shows that you either have an interest in transracial families or you are supporting us on this journey, so I encourage you to following the link below and take a moment to really think about love and family life.
"An Unmatched Set"
0 comments:
Post a Comment