Chosen & Loved | An Adoption Story

Grace Wirka grew up in a Christian home in a small town outside of Omaha. She was loved by God and by her family. Her parents told her that she was a gift from God. She was named after that gift. She knew God’s plan and was told she was a part of it. She was told that God sees her, knows her, and intentionally placed her into her family when she was six months old. That there were no coincidences. But as an adopted child she didn’t understand the meaning of it all. How was she a chosen daughter of God when her biological mom didn’t choose her?

In high school, Grace began to question what she knew and with those questions, doubt followed. When some of her close family members walked away from the faith, she wanted to know even more who God is and what she believed.

“I knew in my heart that I loved God, and I was in need of a Savior, but what next?” Grace described that fateful moment in high school. “One day, I was reading in 1 Kings about King Solomon and the two moms with the one baby. The real mom would rather give up her child so it could live. That’s when it hit me! Oh, this is like my birth mom’s story. It’s easy to look at the negative side of my adoption. Every adoption starts with a tragedy. I didn’t want to face that my story started with brokenness. But instead look at it that God started with redeeming something for me. I would ask why couldn’t my birth mom take care of me? God in that moment revealed to me “She loved you so much she wanted you to have a better life.” And how much more God loves me, that He gave up His son! The magnitude of God’s love for me was so great. It was a tangible moment for me to pursue God. I knew then I wanted to be the hands and feet of Jesus. To tell others about the love of His son and what I experienced in my life. It was then I began to understand more God’s love for me. God redeemed my story in brokenness.”

During college, Grace wanted to know what it would look like to be the hands and feet of Jesus and to love His people. She researched the possibilities of a nursing degree for medical missions or maybe an engineering degree. It was after leading her City Group one week when it all started to make sense.

“I loved sitting with people, walking with people, and helping them in their lives,” Grace shared with a big smile. “I’m a sounding board for others and I love it. Discipleship is a form of love to someone. So, I wrestled with that for a while and then I changed my major from Health Science to Social Science. God gave me a heart for social justice. Seeing God in my own story, I felt called to step into that with others. People who are oppressed and hurting, I know God restores and redeems. I saw brokenness and felt like it wasn’t okay. I’m called and pulled into it by caring for people who are in need.”

With that realization and change, Grace pursued an internship and was hired as a Community Development Resident for Citylight a few years ago. Over the past year and a half, Grace has had opportunities to grow in every way. For instance, she took the Discovery Group class and the Lord broke her heart for the things that break His. He opened her eyes to the great need of people and the global church. Also, she has connected with the neighbor kids around Midtown. Through each of them, she experienced firsthand being the embodiment of God’s love.

“I get to love those kids and choose to love them because that’s what God did for me,” Grace exclaimed. “I’ve been so privileged to go from a place as an orphan to God bringing me to Nebraska. And then experiencing the love of Jesus. I now see kids who want stability and love. Sometimes I think that could have been me. I’m so glad it wasn’t me, and now the Lord shows me how to love them.”

Grace described that there have been moments where it has felt hopeless or exhausting especially when it seemed like she was not making a difference. But then she was reminded of the hope of the gospel.

“We don’t have to wait for the day where every tear will be wiped,” Grace described the sweet truth of God's promise. “We can experience that now on this side of eternity. The greatest act of redemption and reconciliation is Jesus. We can step into that now. That is what restoration and redemption continually looks like.”

Grace is unsure what comes after her residency at Citylight. What she does know is that it will be a calling into another broken area that needs Jesus.

“Because of my story from day one to now, that is what God has called me into,” Grace explained. “The restoration, redemption and reconciliation that he offers to all. He did it for me, and he does for everyone. God is so crazy. Who am I? I’m someone who was born in Vietnam and now lives in Nebraska with the miracle to know Jesus.”

If you too question God’s goodness or feel abandoned, Grace offered this perspective that has moved mountains with her perspective and sealed cracks in her heart.

“It would be easy to believe I wasn’t wanted,” Grace said matter of fact. “That I was rejected. And that’s hard to reconcile. But God reconciled that in me, and He can in you too. I know stories of adoptees that have that. If that’s you, I want to challenge you where your identity is. Psalm 139 says that God knows you in your mother’s womb and he formed your inward parts. God has always known you. I had to wrestle with and challenge what does it mean that my identity is in Christ and not my physical adoption? Adoption is not what makes me a Christian. What makes me a Christian is that God knows me from the beginning and still does. He has always known who I am. God would have pursued me; He would have chased me down even if I wasn’t adopted. His love is so great and vast and unconditional. I literally have nothing to offer Him, and yet He saw me in my mother’s womb, He loved me and has a purpose for my life. That’s for everyone. That’s who you are. You are known.”

Grace looks forward to serving her last year with Citylight Church and the neighborhood kids. She has loved every minute, and it has become the best decision in determining what and where she is being called long term. There is so much to be grateful for. Grace concluded with this:

“Lately, I’ve been thinking of the idea of that Japanese art where you take something broken and put it back together and it’s even stronger. When I think of redemption, God has made me whole. We first need to recognize our brokenness. Just like that crack in the bowl. Even more, when I recognized those things, I got to see the beauty in God doing that and how He redeems. We might not see it every time and it might not be in the ways we want, but we can have hope that all those pieces will be put together and better. As Christians, we are all adopted into God’s family. We are therefore complete in and through Him. You might not feel complete, but you will one day. We must live in the hope of that day to come.”