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First Steps in Articulating Adoption

Penned by Joanna Reyburn May on Sunday, October 5, 2008
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Many of you out there know that I am adopted. Maybe you've read my previous blogs on the spirit of adoption (if not, read Some Day I'm Still an [Adopted] Prodigal,), or maybe you know me personally and have heard my story.

When it comes to my blogging on MY adoption, I stay pretty vague on the subject for a couple reasons. One of which is, though I've never personally met my biological mother, she has commented on this blog post before. I can't describe how strange it is to receive an email from someone you are biologically and genetically connected to, emotionally confused by, and relationally distant from. That's the thing about the internet: I am suddenly very easy to find. My thoughts are laid bare in an online journal that any Google search can uncover. AND I don't really know who's reading. Maybe it's a sibling I don't know about, or don't know about me! It could be the biological father or aunts and uncles, or maybe my mom who has become quite proficient on Facebook these days; the list goes on.

When I talked to my boss and fellow blogger, Randy Bohlender about writing about his recent adoption of infant twin girls, I thought it would be a piece of cake. Sit down, write about my story and the significance of adoption, link to his blog to hear their story, tada. Well, I've been mulling on it for a week, and still no post.

I live in a community that boldly champions the sanctity of LIFE, and I unashamedly believe that human life, whether the product of rape, unplanned and unwanted pregnancy, or the possibility of handicap, is to be protected, sheltered and loved. I vehemently oppose abortion and stare straight into the face of a "woman's right to choose" and political ideologies. My own life hung delicately in the balance, and I could have so easily become one of the 40+ million babies sacrificed on abortion's altar of convenience. Would someone look me in the eye and tell me I should have been aborted?

But a "press statement" just isn't enough. It's not enough for us to simply say that we don't agree with abortion, we have to do something about it, something more than a protest or picket line.

I have been able to join with Lou Engle and his ministry, TheCall which champions the raising up of an adoption movement to face this giant called "Abortion." Everywhere TheCall Gatherings have gone, adoptions have followed. People like John and Tracy Loux, Randy and Kelsey Bohlender, Steven and Kristi Cooper, and dozens more in my own neighborhood putting action to opinion and providing a loving home for babies that could otherwise face abortion or the foster care system.

In rereading this little note, I guess this stuff all needs to be said, but I still kinda feel like it's "weak sauce" in really sharing my heart about this. I'm going to take a break to go on a little autumn excursion, and write more later...

Some Days I'm Still an [Adopted] Prodigal

Penned by Joanna Reyburn May on Tuesday, March 13, 2007
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Being adopted as I am, the Lord has taught me a thing or two about the "spirit of adoption." [Romans 8] I almost feel to an unfair advantage! I have known for the whole of my conscious life that I was adopted. I have also known without a shadow of a doubt that I am loved and accepted. I have known that, to my parents, I am a profound treasure; someone they waited years for, paid a high price for and sacrificed greatly that I may be called their daughter. Nothing could change that.

Where Are Your Accusers Now?

Penned by Joanna Reyburn May on Sunday, May 15, 2005
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The Silent Seige is taking place at the FoxHill abortion clinic at 103rd and Roe in Overland Park, Kansas. Young and old gathering outside the clinic, with the word "LIFE" written on red tape covering the mouth in a "prayer seige" on behalf the over 40 million American aborted children since Roe V. Wade.

I love and support what they're doing there, but I haven't been yet. I don't know if I am going to go. This issue has been heavy on my heart of late.

Being adopted; a crisis pregnancy that could have so easily ended in an abortion, I have always been very vocal about where I stand. I have strongly advocated abstinance & adoption, counselled prospective adoptive parents as well as unwed mothers, and supported the pro-life movement. But in the past few weeks I have begun to see the contrast of my personal offense at abortion, and God's heart.

I have been loud, yes. Meek? no.

I am beginning to see my self-righteous attitude on the abortion issue. How my defensive self-preservation is void of the reality of God's heart. I feel a strong personal offense at the prospect of abortion. Relating it to the possibility that it could have been me; I react. Vehemently. I'm ready to wear my shirt, inform some uneducated mother of the "facts," march in a parade, whatever it takes. But I can't honestly say it's been because I've been motivated by God's genuine emotions.

But God isn't looking for me to get offended. He isn't looking for me to stir up MY zeal. This isn't some cheap student protest or political rally. There's no "hyping my way" into justice or transformation. If I'm relying on my personal sense of justice, I won't be walking in humility & meekness. I'll miss the people in my anger toward the sin. Compassion flies out the window, and at the end of the day I'm bitter towards God for not answering my prayers the way I expected Him to.

I don't want to simply be personally offended, I want to experience God's own emotions! I want to be feel the way he feels about children. I want to have a heart for the plight of the widows and orphans. I want to see with His eyes what abortion truly looks like. I want the sensitivity to know the Jesus driving the tax collectors out of the temple (John 2:13-17) and the Jesus who pulled the adultress up from the dust (John 8:1-12) saying "Where are your accusers now?"