whoops! i told a sweet mama that i would post this on FB a while ago and here it is, the day before orphan sunday. so, tuck this away (if you want) for next year. im posting this because so many of you have asked me for ideas on how to create an orphan sunday message in a different way - in a way that honors both adoption/foster care AND adopted/foster care kids. i LOVE that so many of you are thinking about this - not in a way unhelpful, critical way, but in an open way. a way that is being intentional about what message is being sent, but even more so, in what message is being heard. thank you for that. so, heres some language that i sent that mama about how she could approach a conversation with her church leaders: im glad that we are a church who would advocate for vulnerable children. that is really important to me. i know that orphan sunday is used to highlight & show what the process of adoption (and foster care) can be in a childs life, yet from what im learning from others, especially adoptees, is that we need to be careful & intentional in what kind of message we send - about adoption & relinquishment & humanity, about Jesus. its important to me that as we listen to these other voices, that we think critically about our message - what were sending, what others might hear - about adoption/foster care, about someone who has been described (not defined) as orphaned. my desire is that we would send a message that this is only ONE way that we can care for someone who has been orphaned, but the response to adopt or foster is NOT for everyone. there are numerous ways we can advocate for vulnerable children & people, everywhere. when we just show pictures of kids, it can send the message of: look at what WE did, what OUR love did, for these kids, putting people in a savior or rescuer position (even though that might not be our intent.) and what im learning is that the process of adoption is less about what WE have done for these kids & more about how parenting the needs of kids who have come from hard places has the ability to change ALL of us, not just them. its a two-way street. and, that adoption (and foster care) is hard & messy & much more than just giving needy and powerless and voiceless kids love. it can also be beautiful & redemptive & transformative - for ALL of us. my heart is to capture THAT picture, a fuller picture, for orphan sunday. could we put our heads together & think of creative ways that send THAT kind of message? because if we could, i think that would speak more to whats true about adoption and foster care than just smiling faces who have come into our homes. and, it actually just might show a fuller picture of Jesus. there you go. lets keep using our voices. you need ours. we need yours. #weneedoneanother
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 18:04:54 +0000
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