ruth's vow

where you go, i will go
where you stay, i will stay
your people will be my people
your God will be my God . . .

your problems will be my problems
people who mistreat you, they mistreat me
the prejudiced treatment you receive, it will be mine also
places you can't go, i won't go
places you aren't welcome, i will abandon
movies that hurt you, i won't watch
books that inflict damage to you, i won't keep

i will learn with you to hide in the Shadow of the Almighty
together we will take our pain, our rejection, our weaknesses to Him and find healing
together we will learn to lean on the One who knows our pain

to adopt a child of another ethnicity
is to take on all the racial issues that ethnicity deals with
it is to choose to identify with the way that people group feels
the struggles they face
the obstacles they encounter
the prejudice their world might have against them

if i adopt you
a beautiful brown skinned baby
a baby God chose to make
even though no one wanted you to be made
but i did
i wanted you
if i am given this chance
to welcome you into my world
with my arms
my love
my heart
i am not just bringing you into my world
i am consciously entering yours
i am deliberately leaving my little white privileged world
and (even if it doesn't want me) entering a world
that has known so much heartache
i'm taking on all the enemies
the people with brown skin
known as African-Americans
have known and will yet know

where you go, i will go
where you stay, i will stay
your people will be my people
and my God will be your God

i am certain of His faithfulness
there is nothing He cannot do
He delights in you
as do i