This morning on K-Love they asked the question "How has a child saved or changed your life?"
There were many incredible stories that were shared. I would like to share how my girls have changed my life.
As many of you know I am half Caucasian and half Korean. I was born in Korea and moved to the United States when I was a young toddler. It was hard for me growing up because I never really fit in and was often teased about my slanted eyes. This made such an impact on me as a young child that by the time I was a teenager I was ashamed of being Asian and was saving up money to have surgery on my eyes when I became an adult. Kids use to call me Chinese/Japanese and would ask me questions like "How do you eat soup with chop sticks? or Where are your braids?" There were a lot more of those kinds of questions and teasing.
Six months after Jeff and I got married, I accepted the Lord and became a Christian. By this time as an adult I accepted who I was and knew that God created me. As you may already know God lead us to China to adopt our first child, Myellie. Myellie was a beautiful gift from the Lord. She was my healing from all the experiences of childhood that were negative concerning being Asian. When we became Myellie's parents we fell in love with the Asian culture and people. We desired to teach Myellie about her culture and wanted her to be proud of who God has made her. Since then we adopted Karlie and again she opened our eyes to the beautiful person that God created. Both of my girls are proud to be Asian and they tell everyone that they were born in China and are Americans. God has really put a burden on my heart for the people in Asia. Many of them do not know the truth about our Lord and Savior and the ones who do know the truth cannot express their love for Jesus openly. Many of them risk their lives just to serve Him. I am thankful for God's love, grace and mercy and that He would send me two beautiful girls to touch my heart and to give me such a love for His people.
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Joyce,
ReplyDeleteThis was beautiful and really touched my heart. Thank you so much for sharing your story.
Remind me one day to tell you about Jenna's friend Kinsey. Amy (Kinsey's mom) and her sister were adopted from Korea at 3 and 4 years old. Kinsey is half Korean/half Caucasian and she is quite possibly one of the most beautiful children I've ever seen. Her mom has some great stories that she shared with me that I'd love to share with you.
Mary
Joyce,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you remember me. I was your sister Suzy's best friend during and after high school (Mickie).
Your story is absolutely amazing. God is so wonderfully awesome to place these beautiful girls in your lives.
I pray that as you continue your journey, that God will continue to bless your family, and spread His love to these little ones!
In Christ Jesus,
Michele Sanchez (Mickie Gregory)
Psalm 68:6 NLT God places the lonely in families...