A Word About Adoption....

If you looked at our family, the first thing you'd probably notice is that none of our kids look like us. It's pretty obvious they are all adopted.  But, as most parents would attest to, I no longer notice the color of my kids' skin or eyes, because all I see of them is who they are.  But, most people do notice the color of their skin and eyes and comment about the fact that they are adopted. Which is fine. Sometimes people ask pretty inappropriate questions, which I try to answer the best I can (although I'm not great at thinking on my feet, and am often shocked and thinking, "You are a complete stranger and you are asking me that?").  But, a lot of times people will shake their head pityingly when they hear we've adopted and say things along the line of, "Those children are so blessed to have you!"  And I have flash-backs to some Victorian novel I might have read where the Mother is taking tea with her friends and saying how they took poor, orphaned Cousin Agatha in to the bosom of their family and all the ladies begin clucking and saying how grateful Agatha must be, even though she has to sleep behind the stairs, wear hand-me-downs and is basically nothing more than a servant. You've read those stories before. When I hear comments like that from people it makes me uncomfortable. Like my kids need to really appreciate what we did for them or something. Maybe if they're too ungrateful we'll kick them out! That doesn't happen with the "real" children, the biological children, but those adopted kids.... they need to know their place. They need to know how fortunate they are. I guess, truth be told, our kids were adopted out of less-than-desirable circumstances, but that doesn't mean that Hubby and I saved them. And I certainly don't expect gratitude from them. I prefer to look at adoption this way.  God saved my kids. He had a plan for their lives and He took them out of their circumstances and placed them in our home for us to raise. I don't know why God chose them and I don't know what His plan is for them, but I am honored to have been chosen to do this job for Him.