White priveledge cont...

So, if you are just coming in on this whole white priveledge thing please see previous posts :) I feel like I could write a book on this, so to spare you I will just take chunks at a time.

So, lets imaginatively put ourselves back into the time of the Jews and the Samaritans where Jews were following the ceremonial laws from God and the Jews considered Samaritans unclean simply b/c of their race. There is a lot packed in here that I will probably not all get to. In my understanding, salvation had only yet been revealed to a select few outside of the Jewish race (Rahab and Ruth to name a few) We know from Hebrews that in the Old Testament that the sacrifices and laws that the Lord instituted were not to obtain forgiveness of sins, but instead to be a shadow of the coming Messiah...forgiveness and salvation has always been based on faith alone. All this to say, we must not attribute the unkind treatment of the Samaritans to any fault of the Lord's. In fact, the Lord made specific laws that instructed the Jewish people to be kind to the alien in their land, or person not of their racial heritage.

So, here we are Craig and Erin (pretend we are Samaritans) adopting a Jewish baby for whatever reason. The unkindness between races was most likely reciprocated with animosity towards the Jewish people. Though our child would be Jewish, he would probably not be accepted by the Jewish peoples as he would be unclean coming into contact with us - he would have no Jewish priveledge as it were. Would it be the right thing for us to completely ignore the treatment he is likely to recieve and send him into the world ignorant of this animosity simply because it is sinful and we know that it shouldn't even be an issue in the first place? Are you tracking with me? To be honest, when I heard about this whole "white priveledge" issue I wanted to completely dismiss it. I don't want to make our child feel different than us! And here I would be saying, "You will be treated this way, but I won't." My point with this post is to simply say, after thinking on it I do think there is wisdom in preparing our Ethiopian child for the treatment that he or she MIGHT encounter. Though, please understand we feel that there is a right way and a very wrong way to do this.

That's all for now. More installments to come. Thanks for bearing with us as we hash this one out. Please don't think we take this task of raising a multi-ethnic family lightly. It would be easy if it weren't for sin. Oh yeah, if it weren't for sin there wouldn't be a need to adopt! There would be no fatherless children and certainly no poverty. Because sin entered the world, we became enslaved to the power of sin and death. "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ..." (Eph 2) We continue to pray for wisdom which the Lord is always pleased to give to His children.

Cookies-a-la-Juliana

Juliana made these cookies this morning as I was working in the kitchen-and taking notes :)

How to make cookies:

2 8 soil (i think she got soil confused with flour, ha ha!)
200 cups eggs
more hundred eggs
10 cups powdered sugar
10 more soil
I need lots more powdered sugar
Now I need sprinkles, smarties, and chocolate chips

Cook at 20 degrees for 20 minutes, then 10 degrees. They will be done at twenty o'clock.

Thankful

One thing that I am thankful for in this whole process is that the Lord has enlarged my view of the world by so much even up to now. I can't say for sure that we will end up with an Ethiopian child as we have planned. "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord established His steps." (Pr 16:9) I do know that the Lord is in control of all details, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are ALL things..." (Romans 11:36) and that even if this process would come to a halt for an unforseen cause I know that this time was not wasted. It seems I have crossed an invisible bridge that can't be uncrossed. I have seen the helplessness of the eyes of the fatherless and have seen via the blogworld the bodies of little children ravaged by malnutrition just this week. I think I knew they were there, but who wants to really see the sadness and death? I used to look away. They plead for hope which requires sacrifice on our parts. Will we sacrifice our wants so that we forgo buying a "luxury" such as starbucks so that a child can eat. Will we sacrifice our time that we might offer encouragement and prayer for those that are suffering. Can I save the world? no. Can Christ? Yes. I see the picture of my Savior becoming even a bit more in focus "For now we see Him in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." (1 Cor 1312-13) My relationship with the Lord is becoming ever sweeter as I see His greatness and how He is working on a much grander scale than I used to entertain my mind with. Let us not forget those suffering and even if we have no material goods to give, let us not forget to lift the suffering up in prayer...for Christ has died that our prayers might be heard and answered.

Daily life

I thought I would lighten things up a bit and post some pics of the kids. Evan was enjoying a chocolate cupcake from the neighbors while Juliana modeled her halloween costume outside a few days ago. The last few pics are Juliana in a dress made by her Great-Grandma Martin - very special!

Things are pretty normal around our house these days. Changing diapers, making meals, and reading books take up much of our day. We continue to wait to hear from Shaohannah's Hope regarding a grant as well as eagerly awaiting our referral of a child.

First thoughts

So, I think I will begin to tackle this whole "white priveledge" thing. Craig and I had a great talk the other night and I am pretty sure we have found some thoughts that we believe are true and we will keep...and others that we don't think are biblically based.

The example in the Bible that came first to mind was the story of the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus was Jewish by birth and the woman was from Samaria. The people of Samaria were a mixed race group of people which began when the King of Assyria brought foreigners to live in Samaria (2 Kings 17:24-31) and eventually their occurred intermarraiges with Jewish people. The Samaritans were not liked by either the Jewish people or other Gentiles (non-Jews). Samaritans were considered unclean and a Jewish person (except Jesus!) would never have even talked to or come near them by choice. Needless to say Samaritans had no invisible knapsack of assets to pull from. Sociologist might have talked about "Jewish priveledges" as opposed to "white priveledge" in this culture.

I guess I just want to first acknowledge that the Bible does describe similar (sinful) interactions between races. Being a Samaritan DID make life harder. Being a Jew DID make life easier. How do we transition now to our lives today. We do agree that our child will experience life differently than we do. Some of the points brought up in the paper I cited earlier do resonate with me. Our little town of 8,000 doesn't see much diversity so is it likely we will be stared at at Wal-Mart...yeah, I think it is a good bet. Will I feel more burdoned to protect my Ethiopian child than my other children for fear others will be unkind...yeah, maybe I will. Will my child after they are grown be pulled over by the police more often than I am...yeah, maybe they will. How then do we raise our child to feel connected to us and their community as they realize they are treated at least at times differently? I will have to continue later :)

A T-shirt with a purpose

This shirt can be purchased in the store section at www.compassion.com

Compassion International is an organization that exists to serve children in poverty and share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. A friend alerted me to a special fundraising drive of Compassion to raise money to provide food for the families of Compassion International children. This organization has stellar backing by the BBB and other financial watchdog organizations and I would totally trust that any money sent their way will reach its destination as food for hungry tummies. Ethiopia is listed as one of the countries hard hit by the rising food prices and the shirt above is available to buy from their site and the profits are put toward the Food Crisis Fund. The word on the front of the shirt is "please" in Amharic.


Global Food Crisis Fund


A dramatic rise in the cost of food in recent months has created a life-threatening crisis for millions of the world's poorest families. Most Compassion-assisted children and their families have been affected and some have been absolutely devastated.

Although costs and assistance vary by region, an average gift of:

• $13 helps a child for one month
• $39 helps three children for one month
• $78 helps six children for one month


Emergency food assistance is needed now. Compassion will distribute food and other means of support to the most severely affected families first, followed by less affected families, as determined by our program staff. Please donate now.

If you are brave enough to see the effects of famine first hand please visit the site www.haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com. While we are comfy in our beds with full tummies, children are dying simply for lack of food. Let us not forget. Oh, Lord please let us not forget them.

What is "white priveledge"?

My purpose for this post is not to agree or disagree yet with the content...only to define what it is we are talking about :) This particular paper is written by a social worker.

"White priveledge is an invisible knapsack of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but which I was 'meant' to remain oblivious." White priveledge would be putting an advantage to one race while the author describes racism as putting others at a disadvantage. Whites are taught to not recognize white priveledge as men are taught not to recognize male priveledge. There are daily effects of "white priveledge" and they are conditions which attach somewhat more to skin color than to class, religion, etc. Here are some examples:

1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
3. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
4. If a traffic cop pulls me over , I can be sure I haven't been singled out b/c of my race.
5. If my day, week, or year is going badly I need not ask of each situation whether it has racial overtones.
6. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help that my race will not work against me.
7 I can turn on the television or open the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
8. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to "the person in charge" I will be facing a person of my race.

According to the author, white skin color is an asset in our society.