Two little men came into my life this year via Africa. A year ago I didn’t even know their names, but the Lord already knew they would capture this Nena’s heart. The first time I saw their picture was in June of this year. They were two scruffy little orphans in mismatched clothes with two of the most gorgeous little black faces I had ever laid eyes on. Their smiles melted my heart immediately. It was easy to see why their future parents ( our daughter and son-in-law) had already fallen head over heels in love with them.
On Wednesday, October 19th I stood at a crowded Orlando Airport and waited (along with a throng of eager friends and our very large family) anxiously for the arrival of my two little men and their new mommy and daddy to arrive. It honestly seemed like time stood still for about an hour…..the minutes just couldn’t tick by fast enough. We held welcome signs, stuffed animals, balloons, and matchbox cars in our clutches so that we could show them in such a small way how much we all loved them and had anticipated this very moment. I can honestly say, I have never seen anything like that day at the airport. The pictures of those two little orphans in the mismatched clothes had already caused a host of people to be hopelessly in love with these two little men.
As they rounded the corner of the terminal, hand in hand with their new mommy and daddy, jubilant cheers erupted from the waiting crowd. You could see on their faces that they were both excited by the attention and scared to death by the sheer enormity of the event. They clutched their mommy and daddy’s hands, timidly smiled, graciously accepted each gift, and looked on with consternation at a new world in which they had never lived nor did they understand. They had come from Africa to America, Amharic to English, and orphans to sons in one fell swoop. In a word, it was overwhelming.
Since that day I have observed my little men both firsthand and from afar. I’ve seen their joy at being in their new home, and their sorrow at the loss of the world they knew. Their security of being with parents who love them, and their insecurity from the one who abandoned them. Their laughter and their tears. Their good behavior and their horrid behavior. Their compliance and their rebellion. It’s a story still being written, and I am the grandma reading it.
I can’t help but see myself in my little men. I am, after all, adopted as well. Not in the sense of my earthly parents, they conceived me and reared me. But I have been adopted into the family of God. It is also a very big family. I remember well the day I joined my new family back in March of 1974. It was a day of jubilation. No longer was I an orphan, but I was a child of God. However, it wasn’t long before I also thwarted my father’s requests of me. I sometimes still rebel against His will in my life. He has had to spank me a few times over the years as well. When He doesn’t give me what I want I sometimes cry. Even after 38 years as His child I question His authority in my life. I am so very much like my two little men. I see myself in them more every day.
I am sure that the lessons from my little men are not over. I am enjoying watching Summer and Shane parent them and using so much patience, love, discipline, and longsuffering that my Father has with me. Where would any of us be without the loving guidance of our Heavenly Father? So thankful for my Savior…..He has left us no longer orphans but sons! Praise the Lord!
2tiredjamericans 