THE BEST GIFT
by Samuel and Kuan Mei Ng
Mum Kuan Mei and Baby Dorian having fun
Dorian carried by Grandpa Geok Chye in the presence of the extended family. Samuel is seated in front, second from left.
We welcomed a new member to the family earlier this year. Dorian was adopted after much thought, worrying and prayer. While adopting Dorian is a huge blessing, we believe that it also pointed to an even greater gift this year.
Doubt started to creep in and we wondered on several occasions whether we would ever be able to love him the way it was “expected” of us as parents. As always, God knows what we need the most, and He reminded us of His love for us - his own adopted children (Romans 8:15). It never depended on whether or not we were loveable. In fact, that’s a good thing because otherwise we would have no hope for a happy ending. His love is constant and boundless, regardless of how many times we fail to understand Him. No doubt Dorian was a special gift this year, but the greatest gift was how God has used him to show us how glorious his love for His adopted children truly is, and has given us the privilege and responsibility to try and model that love for our own adopted son.
In the course of preparing to adopt a child, we came across many accounts of parents’ first meeting with the new child and how it is typically filled with love, tears of joy and an overwhelming desire to protect the new baby. In reality, the very first time we saw our child, we remembered thinking to ourselves - “don’t drop him”, “why does he look so weird” and “what have I got myself into”. There were none of those warm, fuzzy feelings. To make things worse, he wasn’t always adorable. There were times when the baby went through the typical bouts of screaming and crying like his world was coming to an end, and we were furiously trying to figure out what he was trying to tell us. It doesn’t make it feel better when you don’t feel like the baby appreciates and understands that you trying to put a bottle in his mouth is actually for his own good, that he thinks you are trying to torture him.
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Ephesians 1:4-6
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