The Motherland VII - Spiritual Adoption

For Part VI Click Here.

During my trip to The Motherland, my uncle’s love (aka The Thai Tycoon) and generosity towards me was overwhelming. I couldn’t believe how much he took care of Katie and I and the enjoyment he received from doing so. I thought to myself, “This is how my father should be treating me.” When I was a child, I remember my uncle starting from scratch. Now he’s projected to own half of Thailand by 2016.

On the one hand you have my uncle who started his own business and simply decided, “I’m not going to be poor.” Now he’s branching out and starting different business ventures for the mere challenge of it. Does he need more money? Of course he doesn’t. It’s about next adventures and starting something new and seeing it become successful.

On the other hand, you have my father who decided that gambling was the road to success. As if people winning built Las Vegas. There couldn’t be two sharper contrasts between my uncle and my father. “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty” (Prov. 21:5 – NIV). My uncle inspires me. My father simply leaves me nodding my head.

Psychologists would charge me $300 per hour to inform me that I have a host of issues as a result of my family background. I went ahead and saved my money. It’s not that difficult to know when you have a father like mine you’ll probably going to deal with anger, bitterness, and resentment and have abandonment issues. I was a slave to those things. So imagine when I became a Christian and I read:

Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:6-7 – NIV)

You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. (Exodus 22:22 – ESV)

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing (Deut. 10:18 – ESV).

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. (Ps 68:5 –ESV)

These verses probably mean more to me than the average person who grew up with a good father figure. The Lord has healed much of my heart and has given me perspective through the eyes of His sovereign grace. I’m no longer chained to the slavery of abandonment nor ruled by a heart of resentment. I’ve been freed by a Spirit of adoption and filled with a heart of gratitude. I have a different Father and I am my Father’s son.

As an adult, there is victory in my life. I don’t need to follow the same path as my father. I now have a heavenly Father who knows me better than I know myself. But there is a question that remains. How will this affect me as a future parent? I’ve never had to deal with this question because the idea of parenthood was extremely remote. However, as that reality potentially draws closer, I will be faced with that question in the form of a screaming baby in my hands.

I’ve actually thought about this question some. I look at parenthood as an opportunity to see how I might’ve turned out if I had a good father teaching me the things that need to be taught to every child. I don’t fear parenthood as much as I make out. Although I admit this is a recent development. I embrace parenthood knowing it’s an opportunity to break a cycle of abandonment, to begin a different Jamreonvit legacy, and to be the father I never had but always wanted. That doesn’t mean I’ll be the perfect parent. Parenthood doesn’t require perfection but only the understanding of God’s grace poured into your life and how to impart that same grace to your children. That’s going to look different for every individual, for every household but that’s part of the fun . . . trying to figure these things out for yourself.

In conclusion, this trip to the Motherland was an awakening of sorts for me. It was awakening to the realities of who I was, who I am, and ultimately who I will become. Nothing in the past binds me. Yet, everything in the past binds me. How will this all play out? Who knows? God does. That’s why I’ll keep blogging because the fun is figuring this stuff out.

Thank you for all of you who read my blog and who have followed The Motherland series faithfully. I hope that it gives you insight into my life and that it was a source of encouragement. I pray that God ministered to you in some way and even give you some insight into yourself.

Praise Him.