Written by Kimberly Stewart
Our adoption has taught us an endless number of lessons, one of those lessons is that color does matter. We never set out to adopt trans racially, but when we asked God where we would find our son, He lead us to Haiti. He led us to a precious, little boy who is black. Our son’s color nor our color has ever gotten in the way of our love, our bond, or being a family, but it has educated us in ways we were previously ignorant.
Is love color blind? Does color really matter? These are sensitive and important questions when it comes to trans racial adoption. Many people say, “Color doesn’t matter…love is colorblind.” We even said and believed this at one time. While it is a lovely idea, it actually creates a tension that we are trying to avoid. I wholeheartedly believe now that color DOES matter. It matters to your extended family, it matters to your community, and most importantly, it matters to your adopted child. Color matters because it is part of that child’s identity. It is part of who God made them to be. To “look past” or ignore a child’s color robs them of their heritage. It takes away the opportunity for them to embrace how God made them.
I believe the heart behind saying “color doesn’t matter” is to address the racial tension that our world engages in on a daily basis. While this is important, to try and solve the problem by ignoring color differences does not address the core issue and essentially only adds to the tension. Color is not the problem; it is our ignorance and hate toward people God made. Ultimately, color matters because God made color. The array of skin color in this world is part of God’s creation. When He created man, we were created in His image. This means we represent God both through our physical appearance and personality. And although we are a marred image because of our sin, we are still made in His image and woven together from His creativity. Part of that creativity is color, and God chose all of us to be a certain color.
God chose Kelly to be our son, and we will help point him to the One who made him. We will daily speak truth to him about all that God says of him. Everything matters through God’s eyes. Therefore, as we live our lives through the lens of God’s word, we find the truth that color is infinitely important because it mattered to God to design us in the color and way in which we are. We praise God for our son Kelly, who God made him, and the color God chose for him.
