A few weeks ago Scharrfy was looking at some pictures and he came across their referral picture. It has a woman holding Brown Sugar and Scharrfy standing by her side. He pointed to the lady and said "That's my Ma-ma".
Whoa! What? "That's your birth Ma-ma?" I said. Which he replied in the positive that yes it is. I had to hold back the tears as I watched for a reaction from Joe. He just smiled and then tucked the picture back into the envelope.
I have not been actively encouraging Scharrfy to talk about his birth mother but I have not discouraged it either. I listen to all the stories that he tells me. Some of them remind me of the vagueness of Revelations and he is trying to describe things to me in our terms but meaning something totally different. For example, I highly doubt that the UN police officers use bow and arrows but they must use something quite like it since this is what he uses to describe a weapon they use. I listen with interest; trying to get a better glimpse into the six years he lived in Liberia. The stories are fantastic and interesting. I have learned a lot about the Liberian culture that I would have never known if we had only adopted younger children.
One day he told me all about his brothers and sisters back in Liberia and some of them that are already in the US. Another Whoa! What? Come to find out you call your first cousins your brothers and sisters also. Whew! I had a moment of concern that we would need to buy a bigger house to accomodate all of his siblings!
But, going back to birth Ma-ma, I found that I wanted to meet her and thank her for these beautiful blessings. I wanted her to know how much I admire her for giving her children a better life in our family. I wanted to hug her and tell her that they will be loved and trained and maybe even come back to see her someday. But, all I can really do is pray for her. Pray that God will save her soul. Pray that through the letters and pictures that we send back to the orphanage that she will see His love eminate through her children. So, in this case our referral picture is worth a thousand prayers.
Whoa! What? "That's your birth Ma-ma?" I said. Which he replied in the positive that yes it is. I had to hold back the tears as I watched for a reaction from Joe. He just smiled and then tucked the picture back into the envelope.
I have not been actively encouraging Scharrfy to talk about his birth mother but I have not discouraged it either. I listen to all the stories that he tells me. Some of them remind me of the vagueness of Revelations and he is trying to describe things to me in our terms but meaning something totally different. For example, I highly doubt that the UN police officers use bow and arrows but they must use something quite like it since this is what he uses to describe a weapon they use. I listen with interest; trying to get a better glimpse into the six years he lived in Liberia. The stories are fantastic and interesting. I have learned a lot about the Liberian culture that I would have never known if we had only adopted younger children.
One day he told me all about his brothers and sisters back in Liberia and some of them that are already in the US. Another Whoa! What? Come to find out you call your first cousins your brothers and sisters also. Whew! I had a moment of concern that we would need to buy a bigger house to accomodate all of his siblings!
But, going back to birth Ma-ma, I found that I wanted to meet her and thank her for these beautiful blessings. I wanted her to know how much I admire her for giving her children a better life in our family. I wanted to hug her and tell her that they will be loved and trained and maybe even come back to see her someday. But, all I can really do is pray for her. Pray that God will save her soul. Pray that through the letters and pictures that we send back to the orphanage that she will see His love eminate through her children. So, in this case our referral picture is worth a thousand prayers.
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