my colorful God

ever since i was a teen i wanted babies from all around the world of every different color. i always thought it would be such a beautiful picture of our God. i have loved traveling all around the world and worshiping our God with friends of different cultures….

dancing around the wooden pews at a church in Ghana, clapping and chanting in their language and then in ours “Jesus is the winner man!”, then in china all sitting and kneeling down in an apartment singing fervently, then in india with the benjara people …. and so many more beautiful memories..i have seen just a small glimpse of heaven. i want my all my children to realize the beauty of every culture and color and that God created each of us unique and beautiful.

in tonight’s adoption class they spoke of the possible hardships my ethiopian baby girl may face if we raise her in america just because of her heritage and color. they spoke of how people may assume value or treat her differently, they talked about things people may say, things she may struggle with growing up in a family of a different color, or growing up as a minority. my heart saddened as I realized more and more how evil our world is.

(p.s. have you ever noticed walmart’s doll aisle is pretty scarce of asain, hispanic, and african babies, and even the christian books stores are lacking greatly too.)

as I am thinking about how I am going to answer different questions my little one may have or comments from other people…i remember hearing someone once say that they were colorblind…but maybe there is a better term.. because we don’t want to be blind to the beauty of the color and cultures that make up God’s beautiful creation we need to appreciate each one. we are all different..no one really is exactly like you or even your exact color… if mary kay were to really get it right she would never be able to carry all the different colors of foundation. and yes…. i am not going to know how to do her hair, but for goodness sake I don’t even know how to do mine!! and don’t worry she won’t be lookin’ all nappy, i got some friends that said they will hook me up when the time comes.

my prayer for all my children is that they will be surrounded by people of every color who will see their value. that they will each see themselves through God’s eyes and not listen to the cruelty in this world. and for my beautiful little african baby girl, that i have yet to meet, that she will see that she is priceless and that her color and heritage are just a few of the many things that make her so very special.

i welcome any ideas of how i can prepare for my little one and/or suggestions on how to respond to randoms we may face...