Here at NewsBusters, we have a love/hate relationship with the CBS drama God Friended Me. It can be a faith-friendly show with positive messages, but, like all network television, it has also included a left-wing LGBT agenda.
But this Sunday’s episode, “All Those Yesterdays,” proved again why God Friended Me has landed on our “nice” list in the past. When new character Joy (Jessica Lu) joined the “God account” team this season, we learned that she had placed a child in a closed adoption at age 16. The audience discovered a few weeks ago that Joy arrived in New York from Chicago after (illegally) unsealing the files on her closed adoption to find out who adopted her baby girl. She came to the city to secretly find out if her biological daughter has a happy life with her adoptive parents. After learning that her child was happy, Joy still could not quite leave New York.
This week’s episode offers a realistic and loving portrayal of the joys (excuse the pun) and challenges of adoption. The episode throws in a new twist when Joy’s biological daughter appears in the mysterious “God account” as the next person the team must help. It turns out that her biological child, who is now 13-years-old, does love her adoptive parents and is happy with her life, but is nonetheless pining to know something about her heritage and history.
Joy had felt drawn to find out more about her baby after her own grandfather died. In a touching scene with God account friend Miles (Brandon Michael Hall), Joy talks about how her grandfather supported her pro-life adoption decision.
Miles: I know you lost your grandfather six months ago.
Joy: Yeah, so what?
Miles: I read the tribute that you wrote about him. Sounds like an amazing guy.
Joy: He was. He grew up in Hawaii. Oh, he was an incredible surfer. My parents split when I was young, and he moved to Chicago and raised me on his own. When I got pregnant and decided I wasn't ready to be a mother... He was so supportive. He told me that giving her up didn't mean that I didn't love her. It meant that I loved her enough to make sure she could have the best life possible. The life that I couldn't give her back then.
In the end, Joy is able to help her biological daughter make a connection to her genetic heritage by giving the girl a picture of her great-grandfather and letting her know he was a world-class surfer in Hawaii. (She does not reveal to the girl that she is her birth mother.)
The adoptive parents, who are shown as loving people, affirm their daughter as she happily embraces this new knowledge. Feeling that her mission is complete, Joy returns to Chicago to resume her former life. Adoption is never an easy decision, but God Friended Me beautifully portrayed how it can be a positive, life-affirming one.
