The Scripture Base for Moses’ Life
Exodus 3:4-6
4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
The Story of Moses
“Since this God knows my nationality and my name, what else does he know about me?” Moses might have thought. “Does he know that I killed an Egyptian and buried him in the sand? I have done all I could do to make up for that. I have tried to live a good life. I have literally driven myself to be the best shepherd, father and husband possible.”
This was the perfection Moses sought and this was the “persona” he projected to everyone he knew. However, in spite of all his efforts, Moses had a pervasive feeling that he was never doing well enough or being good enough. This was the part of his personality he guarded with his life. This was the real Moses. The accompanying emotions were so intense that he felt like running away. Rage. Resentment. Fear. Anxiety.
- Do you think Moses was aware that he behaved in ways that weren’t in line with who he really was? That he acted the opposite of how he felt on the inside?
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- Do you think Moses thought he had to be perfect before God would accept him and use him? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How Moses Saw God
Moses was getting to know God as El-Roi–the God who sees all. He had yet to learn that the God that sees all looks through a lens of mercy.
How You See God
Please refer to the list of Names for Jesus in Scripture in Appendix B and list three to five names for God that stand out to you. It will be encouraging to look back when finished with the workbook and see how your perception has grown!
You can record your words here:
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How Other Adoptees Feel
Check the statements with which you agree and explain why you checked them on the lines that follow:
- I have mile-high walls of defenses.
- I try to do everything perfectly so that others won’t reject me.
- My repressed emotions are so powerful that whenever I get close to accessing them in therapy, I shut down.
- Others have trouble “reading me.”
- I am the greatest actor/actress in the world.
- I became super-wife, super-mom and super-woman to keep my pain at bay.
- I have gone through life at the speed of a shining bullet.
- I ought to do better.
- I am never pleased with myself.
- I followed the path of “the good adopted son.”
- I need to know that God has a plan for my life—that I have a role to play in history.
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Learning about Adoption
What are Super You and Real You? Super You is a false idealized image you think you have to be in order to be loved and accepted. Super You is an imaginary picture of yourself. Since you have been programmed to believe that no one will love you if he gets to know the real you, you strive to become Super You, to gain love and acceptance. This distortion extends even to God, who is Absolute Perfection, who demands perfection, and to whom you must somehow present only your good side. You must let God see only Super You, not Real You.”
–Healing for Damaged Emotions by David Seamands
While inside I struggled, outside I strained to present a status-quo face. I wore J. Crew, cooked nutritious meals, went to Mommy and Me, clenched my teeth, and tried to keep it together. I was living what Clarissa Pinkola Estes calls ‘the grinning depression.’
—“Many Hands: An Adoptee’s Healing Journey,”
in Roots & Wings magazine by Marcy Axness
I was an NFL player, tough and mean, built up like a marble statue, cavalier and confident, a man’s man. I guess I was those things, but at the same time, of course, I was still the boy who would cry himself to sleep over the tragic ending of a book.
— A Man and His Mother: An ADOPTED Son’s Search
by Tim Green, Fox-TV Sports host and best-selling author
Putting my Feelings and Needs into Words
- Do you think God loves imperfect people? Why or why not?
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- Do you condemn yourself for no reason? Explain.
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- Are you willing to ask God if he has a special plan for your life?
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- Do you dread condemnation from God? If so, for what?
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- Do you compare yourself to others? If so, who and when?
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- Do you project an “I-have-it-all-together” image to others, yet feel depressed inwardly? Explain. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- List some of the ways you project yourself as having it “all together.”
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- Are you depressed on the inside but grinning on the outside?
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Writing a Letter TO and FROM My Birth Mother
- Write a letter TO your birth mother about your need to be perfect.
- Write a letter FROM your birth mother as she discovers your need to hide your true feelings.
My Birth Mother
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Digging Deep for Answers to My Adoption Questions
- What does God desire from you? See Psalm 51:6 for your answer.
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- What does the Bible say about comparing ourselves to others? See II Corinthians 10:12-13, 17-18.
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- Read Romans 5:8. When did God show his love for you the very most?
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- With your left hand, draw of picture of Real You and Super You.
- What life-transforming truth have you learned this week and how will it make a difference in the days ahead?
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Thoughts, Insights, Goals and Prayers
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As adoptees, we may succeed at times by presenting a confident, picture-perfect life to others. However, beneath the veneer of perfectionism is a strong fear of rejection. We will talk about that next.
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