NO LONGER AN ORPHAN
Frustrated at her inability to communicate with her new American family, a little Chinese girl breaks down in tears on the floor of her bedroom. Refusing to be consoled, she wails, “Wo xiang hui zhong guo!” (“I want to go back to China!”). Torn between two worlds, eight-year-old Fang Sui Yong of Guangzhou, China struggles with her new identity as Faith Sadowsky of Long Island, New York.
Unknown Security
Faith had never known the security of a real family. She was abandoned at the age of two, and lived the next six years in an orphanage and with foster families. Though her American adoptive family showers her with affection, she has a hard time accepting their love. Will they stop loving her one day if she misbehaves or makes them angry? Will they send her back to China?
“In China, I didn’t know why they adopted me, and why they loved me,” Faith says in the PBS documentary Wo Ai Ni, Mommy (I Love You, Mommy). How could this Jewish family from Long Island love an orphan in southern China before they even met her? Confronted by these questions, her mother smiles gently at the little girl with jet-black hair and big dark eyes. “I adopted you because I wanted a daughter to love. I love you because you’re my beautiful daughter.”
False Identity vs. True Identity
Do you struggle with your identity? Are you letting yourself be defined by others’ opinions of you? Do you believe that you are merely a product of your life’s experiences? You can be free from the shame of false identity. Our Heavenly Father invites you to be part of His family. He chooses to love you, not because of anything you’ve done, but because you’re His son, His daughter. You don’t have to remain an orphan any longer. Receive your new identity as a precious child of God!
But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father!” Galatians 4:4-6 (NLT)
Going Vertical!
MJ