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I watched a film a little while ago called, The Painted Veil. The tag line of the film is: Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people. Even before I watched the movie I had written that quote down and posted it on the bulletin board above my desk. When I heard this quote I thought of the physical distance between my own little home and those of my dearest loved ones. I thought of times when their has been emotional voids in relationships that mean a great deal to me and the beauty that healing brings to those relationships. I thought of my own journey finally accepting the love and redemption of the Lord in my life. And, then I thought of a little eleven month old boy who has three front teeth and a head fully of curly brown hair.
There is great distance today between me and my soon to be adopted son, Samuel. This distance has been present for a long time, most definitely before Samuel was born and we decided to adopt. I have known for many years that I had a child in the world, somewhere. Thankfully, I married a man who was open to this idea and has been a real partner in helping to prepare our hearts and home for an adoption.
It has amazed me how many people I encounter who have the same story. The details of the adoption are different, but the catalyst the same.
Perhaps this is because God has such a loving heart for the orphan that as we come to know Him more that same heart begins to be imprinted on our own. I heard a musician say recently that the most dynamic and interesting Bible study he ever did was to study God’s heart for the widow and orphan. Once we began our adoption of Samuel we started running into people at church, in stores, in parks, on airplanes who are all in someway connection to an adoption journey. Now, whenever I am in a conversation with someone I jump at the chance to tell them how much God loves the orphans and desires us to care for them. It is a great form of worship, in which, although we may be made vulnerable we will be kept close to Father of the fatherless.
In a little over a month from today I am boarding a plane to Ethiopia. I will be traveling to Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia and staying in the home of missionary friends for what I think we be one month. During this month I will be able to visit with my son, who although I love more than words can describe, does not even know me yet. After our case passes through court he will be able to leave the orphanage and reside with me in Ethiopia until our case is completed. I know now that after years of feeling the call to adopt on my heart, after 19 months of being smack in the midst of the adoption process, and after much vulnerability there will be no more distance.
God sets the lonely in families and he sets on all of our hearts a call to be the family. If there is distance today between you and a little life somewhere in the world know that road may be long, but the union is worth the trip.

Ps. One our partner agencies, Shiloh Adoptions, has a terrific guide to what the Bible has to say about adoption, orphans, and families.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 4:35 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.