Benediction

By the time most of you will be reading this post, Jared, Thomas, and I will probably have completed the first leg of our journey to bring home our daughter, Lucia Ethiopia Johnson. We will be flying out of Chicago in the early afternoon to Washington D.C. and then from D.C. to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, arriving at 10:00 PM Thursday night. Just a year ago I wrote the following words in a post: 

Four months ago I had never heard of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city, or of Haregewoin Teffera, an Ethiopian woman and Orthodox Christian who after suffering the loss of her husband and her eldest daughter began to receive child after countless child into her home to nurture and care and nurse the physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds caused by poverty, disease, and death, so that these little ones might be granted new life. I had never heard of author Melissa Faye Greene or her work There Is No Me Without You but after crying through the first two chapters of this book, a still small voice began to speak to me about the possibility of adopting a child from Ethiopia. I objected, wholeheartedly and with tears. "No, I can't. It is too hard. I do a horrible job incorporating Korean culture into our lives, how can you expect me to incorporate another? It will be a betrayal of my children. I may never return to Korea." But despite my numerous objections, I knew in my heart what we were to do and hesitatingly I began to disclose to friends my belief that we were supposed to adopt from Ethiopia.

Today we finally sent in our adoption application, which has been sitting on our counter for over three months. The application is a bit of a mess - I had to cross out Korea as the country we wanted to adopt from and write in its place Ethiopia and make a couple other adjustments related to this change. I am at peace with our decision and excited about the adventure ahead of us, recognizing Christ's call is often difficult, fraught with obstacles, and a bit demanding as He continues to ask each one of us over and over again to move away from our ordinary and proper places. Leave your father and mother. Let the dead bury the dead. Keep your hand on the plow and do not look back. Sell what you own, give the money to the poor and come follow me (Luke 14:26; 9:60, 62; 18:22). What this means for each one of us will vary dramatically. For some, it may indeed mean selling all they have and living a life of total poverty or living in caves in the desert. For most of us, it will mean striving to create peace filled lives where God has placed us, paying close attention to discern His unique vocation for each of us in the midst of our daily lives, and sometimes following Him to places we would not have thought to go.

This whole adoption process has been a whirlwind and a bit surreal.  In my heart, I am comforted, confident that our family is ready for this new, beautiful, wonderful gift from God. And I am overcome with emotion once again as I remember the countless sacrifices our friends and family have made so that this little girl could be brought into our lives. Over the course of the next ten days, please keep our family in your prayers. Please remember my boys, Russell and Elliot at home, as well as my parents, Ray and Charlene, my mother-in-law, Linda, and our friends Greg and Marian, all of who will be taking care of our precious twins in our absence. Please also remember my friend Tesi who will be leaving for Ethiopia five days after we return to bring home her two sons. Thank you Tesi for picking up Melissa Faye Greene's book off your couch and choosing it for book club. How different my life would be if you hadn't. Peace and blessings to you all.  

Benediction

Rabindranath Tagore

Poetry Wednesday

Bless this little heart, this white soul that has

won the kiss of heaven for our earth.

He loves the light of the sun,

he loves the sight of his mother's face.

He has not learned to despise the dust,

and to hanker after gold.

Clasp him to your heart and bless him.

He has come into this land of an hundred crossroads.

I know not how he chose you from the crowd,

Or came to your door, and grasped your hand

He will follow you, laughing and talking,
and not a doubt in his heart.

Keep his trust, lead him straight and bless him.

Lay your hand on his head, and pray
that though the waves underneath grow threatening,
yet the breath from above may come and
fill his sails and waft him to the heaven of peace.