New Beginnings in Disguise

I first met her at the Houston International Airport. Her big brown eyes were wide with wonder as they looked curiously into mine. Who knows what a 10-month old child might be feeling when she has just lost her mother and father, is taken to a different country and placed into the arms of an unfamiliar couple and left there to be raised by them. What a deeply ripping experience for one so small.

The placement of this child in our home was not something we had sought. Our own children were high school age and soon we would have been empty-nesters. Now suddenly, we were beginning again with Christelle, who was just beginning to walk. Everything was totally different for us as well as for her, than it had been just a few short weeks before. As time went by, I began to realize that she and I were also very different from each other.

I am fair, she is dark. I am fairly reserved, she is very much an extrovert. I like to read, she likes to talk. My tastes in music, lifestyle, entertainment, and virtually everything are the opposite of hers. Christelle is now 15 and prefers to live in a frenzied social whirl. That accounts for some of the differences, though they have always been evident.

Loving a little child is not difficult, especially one in need. My fairytale expectations though, when I first saw this beautiful little girl, were nowhere near reality. As I have regularly brought this challenge and my need for wisdom before the Lord, I have learned that as this little one had a new beginning in her young life, brought on by dismal circumstances, so I had been given an opportunity for a new beginning in disguise. I could live with ease with those who are like me, and with whom there are seldom conflicting viewpoints. But, God's blessings many times stretch us out of our comfort zones to open our eyes to new possibilities and to much needed inner changes that otherwise would never take place. Christelle is indeed a blessing from the Lord!

Has God allowed circumstances in your life that, if you were to let Him show them to you from a different point of view, might become the beginning of new life for you? Sometimes we have to "die" to our old life in order to gain a new one.

If you're interested, there is more information about:
The most important event of all time and
The most important Book of all time.

email this message to a friend   |   DW Home

Contributed by Daphne Harrington. Comments/Feedback are welcome.