Orphans heart

I never was labeled as an orphan and will probably never know how an orphan really feels, but I do know how it feels to be adopted and moved to a very strange place that is not normal to me, but is forced to be called home.

A child becomes labeled as an orphan when their parents die or when their parents begin to neglect them. Then, Lord willing, someone will start to take care of them, hopefully a family member or a local church. Sometimes an organization will build an orphanage to house the children until a family adopts them, and maybe the family is from another country. When the child is adopted, they are forced to leave their “home” and now are forced to live in a new environment, house, culture, lifestyle, and even speaking a new language. The child has to adapt to everything that is “normal” in that different society, without a choice.

I never thought of that before...

...until I became a missionary.

I’m living in this new society, which is different than my “normal.” I left my comfort zone, and entered another person’s comfort zone, which is not comfortable to me. People communicate in a different way. The food is different. People dress differently. The schedule is different. People live differently. The music is different. People worship differently. The climate is different. People show love differently.

And as I’m writing this, I’m realizing it is normal to be different. Even in my own home, we are different.  

So, in your everyday life, realize that we are different and we need to respect each other’s differences and sometimes adapt to them. It’s not wrong, it’s just different.