Uncomprehended Gifts
When we landed in the United States on November 7, 2009 Gracie Li Hope automatically became a US Citizen. She didn't have to do a thing in order for that to happen because all of the requirements were fulfilled on her behalf by someone else. As her parents we loved her before she was even born, we started the process to adopt her a year before she was conceived and we didn't even know anything about her until she was almost 2 1/2 years old. We completed all of the paperwork and went through all of the evaluations to qualify to be her family and she wasn't even aware of any of this. Everything we did for here made it possible for her to receive three very special gifts the day she landed in the United States:
Gift of citizenship was given to her. In the future she'll be able to vote, speak her mind (which she's already doing quite well), and do everything else any American citizen can do and she's blessed because she doesn't have to wait or do any paperwork because we did all of that for her.
Gift of a forever home was given to her. Gracie was blessed to be in a wonderful foster family for most of her life before becoming part of our family and we are grateful to all of those who made it possible. But even with that amazing gift it was still only a temporary arrangement. Even after we legally adopted her in China,the adoption wasn't officially recognized in the United States until we landed.
Gift of a spiritual heritage was given to her. Even though Gracie will have to make the decision to follow Jesus for herself when she's old enough to do so, she will have experienced the love of Jesus through her family, and friends in such a way that this decision will be a natural one for her. In her birth country 'Christianity' is an officially recognized religion but it's not at all certain that she would have had the opportunity to really know who Jesus is or even to own her own copy of the Bible.
As we celebrate Gracie's 3rd birthday and she enjoys opening her gifts she will completely unaware of three of the most important gifts that she will ever receive.
Gift of citizenship was given to her. In the future she'll be able to vote, speak her mind (which she's already doing quite well), and do everything else any American citizen can do and she's blessed because she doesn't have to wait or do any paperwork because we did all of that for her.
Gift of a forever home was given to her. Gracie was blessed to be in a wonderful foster family for most of her life before becoming part of our family and we are grateful to all of those who made it possible. But even with that amazing gift it was still only a temporary arrangement. Even after we legally adopted her in China,the adoption wasn't officially recognized in the United States until we landed.
Gift of a spiritual heritage was given to her. Even though Gracie will have to make the decision to follow Jesus for herself when she's old enough to do so, she will have experienced the love of Jesus through her family, and friends in such a way that this decision will be a natural one for her. In her birth country 'Christianity' is an officially recognized religion but it's not at all certain that she would have had the opportunity to really know who Jesus is or even to own her own copy of the Bible.
As we celebrate Gracie's 3rd birthday and she enjoys opening her gifts she will completely unaware of three of the most important gifts that she will ever receive.
posted by Jerry Stitzel at
4:09 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Make your comments here!
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home