Same, Same...but Different

A couple weeks ago we started our 'Adoption Learning' classes.  When we started I was thinking to myself that there were going to be boring and there was no way that I was going to learn anything.  Guess what?!?!  I was right, to a certain degree.  They are boring...like really boring.  But, to their benefit I have learned a thing or two.

While going through these courses I began to think about Henry, who we adopted when he was just under 3 months old.  He is Japanese (as you can probably tell from the picture), but he has never lived in a Japanese home.  He has never lived with a Japanese family, nor lived a Japanese lifestyle.  I think every day he begins to look more and more like the other kids, and he would never guess that he was any different.  It is funny to think about because when we were going through the process of adoption we were asked if we were going to tell Henry that he was adopted.  Both Gretchen and I thought:  "Umm....I think he'll know..."  We may have to reconsider that line of thinking...

There are some things about him that really make me think about what life is going to be like when we have American, Japanese, and Filipino children in our home.  I mean, Henry loves, I mean loves, Japanese food.  He eats rice with everything (which is strange because I don't really care for sticky rice).  I am amazed at how Japanese Henry actually is, since he has never been around that influence.

When our little ones come home they are going to bring with them so much cultural stuff that we cannot even begin to understand.  Henry doesn't speak Japanese (sometimes I think he might be speaking Japaneses because I cannot understand what he is saying), but these kids are going to speak Tagalog.  Not only are they going to speak it, Tagalog is going to be their heart language.  We are going to have to learn to speak it.  They will learn English, but that does not excuse us from learning their language.

It is a good thing that I like Filipino food, because when they finally come home they are not going to want to eat steak.  They are going to want something familiar!  We are going to have to really step up our game when it comes to cooking ethnic food.  While the waiting sucks, I rejoice that we still have a little time to learn some more about their culture.  I want them to come to a home, not just another place to live.  I do not want to separate Henry from his Japanese culture and I do not want these kids to lose theirs either.

Please be praying for us in this.  And, if you are one of the people who will get to meet and spend time with our family after the kids come home, please look into Filipino culture as well.  It will give us a great deal of peace to know that our friends and family around the world are lovingly accepting our kids even now, before them come home to us.