Inclusive Teaching

Today we learned about Moses.

Moses is a story we quickly tell kids. The basket moment is told cute, like the baby went on a fun river adventure. But it is really a Biblical story of adoption, of relinquished parental rights, and an open adoption arrangement. It is a story of a “tummy mommy” making a tough decision, sibling separation, a “forever mommy,” and a baby who has both moms.

My son is adopted. and we are very open and talk to Hunt about “doption” in a loving, age acceptable way. His story is his and we protect it and give it to him as he asks. As a mom, I expect the Kids Ministry he is in to be sensitive, inclusive, and educated.

Today the bigness of the story of Moses was not lost on him. He sat still and blinked heavy. He held our hand. I leaned and told him “Moses was adopted. His tummy mommy had to make a hard decision, but she loved him. His forever mommy loved Moses too.”

As we teach children the Bible let’s not skip the real details, let’s not focus on the river part like it is a great adventure all babies would love. Let’s focus on the hard decisions, proactive protections, women who choose to love another woman’s child, a baby who entered this story with no choice, and a God who loves “doption.”

We must tell these stories believing that all parents want to be good parents, and all children deserve safety and forever families. The way we tell Bible stories is important, because little boys and girls are beginning to identify themselves in them, and as my son says, “we love doption.”