diversity vol 2: more babies, please!

now that i got all of the diversity ramblings out of my head, and you've glimpsed a little into my heart, i'll follow up on what i mentioned about babies.

more babies, you ask? yes please.

and not just babies of my own, although dave and i have realized over the past few months that our family is still not complete, and are excited to see if God will give us a third bubby (and fourth. dave doesn't want 3. it's 2 or 4 for him, so i'm shooting for twins. kidding. SO not wishing twins on myself, except for in the deep dark secret corners of my delusional brain.). but that's a different topic. i'm talking about diversity here, and although italian, my husband can not give me what i want.

and what i WANT is babies from different places of different races! just like piper has.

my heart, the heart God has given me, is for fostering babies. maybe adopting, too, if the opportunity presented itself, and God was leading that way. in my mind, there is no better gift to give than the gift of love and a home. and i have lots more love to give, and if need be, i can stack kids up in drawers to fit 'em! kidding. sort of ;)

seriously, though, it weighs heavy on my heart to know how many unloved and uncared for children there are. it breaks my heart a little every time i think about it. so in the years to come, as our kids get a little older, and i have more of my attention to give, i'd really love to foster children (okay, babies especially. perhaps because i'm sick and twisted? maybe i like getting up in the middle of the night? i don't know. i just love babies).

this is what Jesus calls "true religion":

"religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." james 1:27

i feel like that's a pretty direct charge for us to help the people who need it. single moms, widows, children with no family, whoever. and however. i have a home, and i have love to give. if God gave me what i have, it would be wrong NOT to use it. i'm not saying everyone should foster kids and adopt babies. i think God calls us all to different things. what i AM saying is that we are asked to USE what we HAVE for the kingdom. not being selfish with ourselves OR our things. and this is one way i'd like to give generously.

and the bonus? my kids get to grow up in a family that isn't all white, which i feel brightens the future for acceptance, justice, and equality in the generations to come. i would feel proud if my children could look at different colors of skin without batting an eye because it would feel so normal and common and quite irrelevant that their skin is different. or their hair is different. or their eyes are different. THAT'S what I'M talking about.

so yes to more stratton babies, yes to anyone else's babies, and yes especially to black babies. just saying. i have a special place in my heart for those amazing features God didn't give us white folk.

more diversity, please

*you'll have to excuse the seemingly converse nature between my last post on target's fineries and a post today with thoughts on race and ethnicity in america. although i may seem schizophrenic or batty, i must remind and assure you that this blog represents my mind and it's many wanderings, for better or worse :)

in asking you all what you wanted to hear about from me next (okay, this was a LONG time ago now. months. better late than never?), it was unamimous that i must talk more about the "john legend" experience. or my ramblings on diversity, my obsession with culture and ethnicity, my affinity for black people, my desire to some day foster (and hopefully adopt) children that don't look like mine, and the fact that even just writing that makes me worry that it's already such a white person thing to say. and that i already sound weird or ignorant.

so first- a disclaimer post (and tomorrow, we'll talk more about babies and fostering and the such):

i love diversity. and by love, i mean adore. my fear in writing is that my posts on this topic may not come across the way i want them to. or maybe they will. but i am going to write anyway, because my heart demands it and so do you. i do not, however, want to trivialize or understate the overwhelming issues that we face in this world in light of culture, race, and ethnicity.

there is a lot of hate in this world.

there are people who hate african americans for being black and white people because they live in trailer parks. people don't see others the way God sees them. people compartmentalize other people because it makes us feel safe. what i'm attempting to say is what's in my heart, which is that my love...is for everyone (my problem might be that i like white people less and tiny afros more), and i don't care about country of origin or color of skin. equality is equality. i don't want people treating me a certain way because i'm a woman and i don't want people to think i'm stupid because i have blonde hair, AND i don't want people to stereotype how i see other cultures because i'm white, either. i mean...REALLY?!

in my opinion, the trouble is that our country is just...young. and ignorant. the united states is like a teenager who thinks they know everything, knows what's right for everyone, and can't do any wrong. that's why so many countries hate our guts. i mean, who likes teenagers (i mean that with love, teenyboppers)? there is so much baggage we still carry in 2010 as a result of how we've treated other people in our country, and what i want to know is why it can still feel premature or wrong to say we're all equal, even though we are. i feel like we are, but i try to see people how God sees them. and i'm white. which is not saying that because i'm white, i don't think there is inequality and i don't think there's racism- because i do, and there is. i just don't condone it or participate in it or agree with it or see any need for it as a white person. i tend to feel like no one wants to hear about oppression or racism from a white girl because frankly, i'm not up against racism and hatred like so many other cultures and races are. so many of us have it SO easy. heck, christians aren't even persecuted anymore! no one's banging my door down and killing me for going to church. i mostly wish i wasn't white, so i wouldn't have to feel so absurdly awful about the way my ancestors treated other humans. (way to go crusaders, awesome job bringing Christ to the world, by the way.)

i stole this quote from my cousin daina's blog, who lives in and writes of her experience living in jinotenga, nicaragua:

"homogeneity is sometimes mundane, other times a stimulus for prejudice."

i love this thought, and it's so true. how can we live in such a diverse part of the world and desire homogeneity? this is america- we're the melting pot, we're the place where freedom rings, where opportunity knocks. except we look through the peephole first because we're a bunch of haters (i'm using "we" loosely, here. i mean the generally "we"). i think we should fight the kind of assimilation that encourages people to take on american names or forget their culture's practices or holidays. that's whack.

and i want to be part of a generation who sees past color and background and class and status and just sees people. people who have feelings, who have desires, who have families, who have lives that are being lived simultaneously to ours. i celebrate differences. i WANT differences. we NEED differences. not just in culture and ethnicity, either. in mind and opinion, too. we were designed to live in harmony, at peace with one another, but our sin and our greed and our hatred and our ambition have gotten in the way. acceptance is what we need. judgement is not.

straight up, all we need is love. the beatles were totally right. and for real? i love me some non-white babies. we'll talk more about that tomorrow :)

i leave you with this: i recently read that "cultural diversity is a driving force of development, not only in respect of economic growth, but also as a means of leading a more fulfilling intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual life."

what do you guys think? i want your thoughts!
ALL OF THEM. NOW!