Abandoned vs. Being Left

Dictionay.com defines the word a . ban . doned as forsaken or deserted. Many people within the adoption community use the word "abandoned" when talking about China adoptions. I must admit that I too have used the word. However when I read a blog recently it brought into light the real meaning of this word and I began to re-think my positon on this word. I even went as far as to change the word in previous posts. From now on I will use the word "left". When I look back to stories in the Bible I am reminded of the story of Moses. He was born at a time where Pharaoh had an order that all baby boys were to be killed. When Moses was born, his mother hid him for three months. The time came that she could no longer hide him so she made the decision to place him in the river. She put him into a basket and put the basket into the Nile river and Moses older sister hid in the reeds to watch and see what would happen. Pharaoh's daughter went down to the river to bathe and found the baby and raised him as her own. God's hand of provision was all over this situation as Moses sister was nearby and heard Pharaoh's daugher say that the baby was a Hebrew baby, so she asked if she could go and get a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby, and so Moses' own mother was able to nurse him without anyone knowing that she was his real mother. I say all of this to say that Moses' mother did not abandon her son, she saw fit to trust God to take care of the situation and allow her son to be well taken care of and indeed he was. Many birth mothers in China do leave their baby girls, but not because they want to, but because they feel they have no other options. I have no idea the pain these mothers experience as they place their baby daughters in a place and walk away. Many hide and watch from a distance to have assurance that their infant has been found. I can only imagine the heartache she feels as people begin to yell that a baby has been left. When they begin to ask who's baby, her heart must break into pieces as she holds everything inside. Her heart tells her to yell "it's mine" however her mind tells her "don't say a word". Her only comfort is knowing that her precious child has been discovered and will find its way to an orphanage and her hope is that her beloved child will grow up in a home where they will know the love of a mother and father. Where they will know security. If I could ever meet Darci's mother I would hug her and thank her for her selfless sacrifice. I pray that her mother and father will know the love of God and that God would somehow comfort them and give them a peace of the heart that only God could give, letting them know that their precious baby girl is loved by a mother and father and that she is being taught that her heavenly father loves her more than she could ever imagine. She was left not abandonded and someday will be untied with her FOREVER FAMILY!!!