Charlotte Siemens telling her story.
Imagine with me waking up and going to sleep with the cries and wailing of mothers; in this story Hebrew mothers lamenting the loss of life, howling bringing children into the world and soon after watching them being taken away. Pharaoh’s daughter – a woman hears these cries, perhaps wishing to get them out of her memory, wishing to live her regular, regal life with no interference, and yet hearing the endless cries, no doubt knowing full well that her father was involved in the slaughterings. She goes to the river to bathe, like every day in her seeming well- life. She is at the river ready to bathe, a royal princess. What we have in this story is: The love of a birth mother for her child, the love of an adoptive mother for the baby; the love of a sister for her baby brother. I too am the adoptive mother of two boys, and know the depths of a mother’s love for a child, regardless of whether or not she gave birth to that child. Our children came not in baskets floating down a river, but as 1 ½ year olds learning how to walk.
Our Biblical Model is Janet Davies.
The fashion commentator is Cyndy Brandt.
The fashion commentator is Cyndy Brandt.
Our Biblical story occurs during a time of intense racial prejudice towards the Hebrews, slaves to Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s daughter reached across racial and religious barriers to show compassion to a child. Although our children I hope are not surrounded by racial prejudice, our children are Nicaraguan, and so ours too is a cross-cultural adoption, which can bring with it added challenges, and possibly added adventure (it gives us a great excuse to travel to Central America regularly).
As you recall this story in Exodus 2:1-10, and as I have told the story, have you noticed that one "character" has not been mentioned? Nowhere in the text do we find God named. And yet everywhere we cannot help but think of God. We do not always know or understand how God works in the world But it is obvious here that God is somehow at work in the actions of these three women. The story is told in very low-key terms. There are not yet astounding miracles to wow us. Those will come later in the story of Moses. Yet the message here is that God sometimes works behind the scenes in the courageous actions of mothers, in the love of sisters, and in the compassion of a tyrant’s daughter! In this story, there is simply the faithfulness of ordinary people who live their lives under God.
So in a real sense, this is a story about the surprising and unimaginable faithfulness of God in the midst of ordinary human living. We were blessed with two boys, through adoption. On Carlos’ adoption notice it states: Placed into our lives, born into our heart. Little baby Moses was also placed into Pharaoh’s daughters’ life, and I truly believe was born into her heart.
I can imagine the anguish of Moses’ mother as she prayerfully lays her baby boy in a basket. I believe the birth mothers of our boys also brought them to safety, bringing them to the hospital or the orphanage praying that they would be alright. Was God at work? I like to think so – I am not garbed with finery, but pray I am garbed with grace and compassion. God works with ordinary people, with Moses’ determined mother, with a daring sister, and a compassionate daughter of Pharaoh. Our boys stretch me as a mother, as a woman, as a Christian. I have learned much about forgiveness, about endless ongoing love through difficult times, about laughter, about deep joy, about God’s incredible faithfulness.
God works through folks like you, through folks like me. God is faithful to and through us!
Physically, Pharaoh’s daughter, is garbed in royal clothes; emotionally she is garbed with grace. In our Biblical story, three women – three heroes. Gathering as women today: birth mothers, perhaps some other adoptive mothers, sisters and perhaps even a few regal princesses in the crowd. All of us: garbed in God’s grace, wrapped in God’s compassion.
