So my thought-provoking friend Mrs. Schwager is not letting me get away with posting a thought-provoking piece of news without actually posting my thoughts. In a comment she left on my previous post, she said, "but the question is: what are your thoughts on this? do you immerse your child in as much ethiopian culture as you can? just talk about it a little as interest dictates? not talk about it at all?"
We have been thinking about this and the myriad of other issues that come with international adoption. Our greatest challenge has been to think about these things prayerfully, through the lens of Scripture.
Through this adoption we are bringing a piece of Ethiopia into our family. In Scripture it is clear that ethnic heritage is an important part of who we are, not THE most important part, but still important. We would be silly and blind to the creativity of God if we ignored our child's ethnic heritage. The most important culture in our child's life will be our family culture and because we are bringing Ethiopia into our home, Ethiopian culture will unavoidably become a part of that. We are not sure exactly how, but I don't think that is something we need to figure out completely right now.
Any other thoughts??
1 comment:
well, that's what i thought you would say. in fact, that is the approach that i always assumed most people would think logical. but i read an article awhile back about a family that adopted two boys from another country and they were pretty adamant that their boys had left their old heritage behind and been grafted into the new heritage of the adopted family. he did not specify how much they talked to their sons about the country they came from, so i am not really sure what he meant in practical terms, but that got me thinking...the whole question is interesting to me because we don't have the same cultural understanding of adoption that it seems like i see in the bible. i mean, if we are adopted into the family of God, there isn't a sense in which we are seperate from, not fully a child of Him. i don't know if we, as sinnful creatures, can fully replicate that complete adoption. it will be interesting to watch you and chris graft this baby onto your vine. and happy. sorry that was so long.
Post a Comment