My name is Diana, and I was an orphan. This was not a great beginning, many would say. I was born in a city called Semey, in a country called Kazakhstan. Let’s just say that this was no New York City or Hollywood. It was a place of great poverty and hopelessness. I was born to an unwed, alcoholic mother. Yes, that was another big strike against success. I was dropped off at an orphanage when I was two years old.  When I was four and a half, I was miraculously adopted and moved to the United States of America with my new family. Things were looking up for this little orphan! But unfortunately that family decided to give me away after four years. That is not the way successful people get started in life…or is it?  The next few years taught me some things that I believe are worth sharing.

I was able to go straight to a loving home after the first family gave up on me. My first lesson was the value of unconditional love. That kind of love brings a peace that cannot be explained; it is just experienced. It is a necessary part of life, just like oxygen. I did not realize at the time that I was slowly dying without it, but I have new life now because of it.

The orphanage had taken care of my basic physical needs because my birth mother was unable to, and for that I am grateful. The first family was wealthy and provided for me in ways I could have never imagined, and I felt relief. But even as a child I knew there was something missing in these places. At my new home I asked Jesus into my heart, and it was like a light came on inside me, and I felt peace for the first time in my life. My mom says she could see an instant change in me. As it describes in 1 Peter 2:9, I had been brought out of the darkness into the light, and I felt it.

My new home had a good grasp of this kind of love, because my parents had known the love of Christ first, which had sent them looking for me! That is another story; just ask my parents. They will be happy to tell you their testimony of becoming parents after 25 years of marriage without children by choice! Only God can do that!

My next lesson is from Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” So many things in my life appeared to have gone wrong. But in reality so many things had to go right to get me here. People in a society of great poverty had to answer the call on their lives to take care of orphans. Someone had to change diapers, feed and clothe children that were not their own. Someone had to answer the call on their lives to risk international adoption financially and emotionally. Finally, someone had to answer the call on their lives to adopt a child who had been adopted before, which is a rare calling for sure. While I was homeless, God was preparing my miracle home—the one with love, where I was the miracle. Again only God can do that! I want my decisions to be someone else’s miracle too. I want to be salt and light to others the way that many have been to me.

Now I can see that my life has become a testimony, similar to when Jesus told his disciples to “take up their cross” daily (Matthew 16:24). I have discovered, as the disciples did, that divine moments can be disguised. Daily choices have to be made. I would have probably chosen to be a regular kid in a regular home if I had been asked to choose. But, like Joseph, I was not given the choice. Now, as I look back on where I have come, I would not change a thing. I am not going to trash my testimony. God can use where I’ve been for His glory, just like He did with Joseph.

I have learned how to choose life when given the choice. I have learned the value of forgiveness, because it is healing. Without it, advancement stops, because I would be a bitter person that God could not use. I have refused to feel rejected, because people don’t determine my value, God does. I have learned that God loves the spirit of adoption, but someone has to be the orphan. I have learned to not ask why me? But to ask, “What will God do with this?” I am living proof that you are never too young, and my parents are living proof that you are never too old, to take off on a God adventure to be used to glorify Him.

I have discovered that God prefers to use people, including me, to advance His purposes. God created me for adventure, and I have found a way to enjoy the journey. It is through trust. Genesis 50:20 says, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (NIV). Satan could have been trying to destroy something BIG in me, because my dreams are dangerous to him. But God can make all things good, if we let Him. Don’t fear the journey; look ahead to the victory. Quit trying to control the outcome—that is God’s job. Be willing to trust Him and grow in the process. God needs us to say yes when He calls and to not fear the pit or the prison. Adventurers can join in with Paul and count the blessings of our life’s journey and hear God say, “Well done” (Matthew 25:23).