Adoption is awesome! I love it! It is exciting! It creates forever families! Since we are paper pregnant I could probably name 100 reasons I love adoption, but here are my top 10.
1. Love! God is love. We love because God first loved us. {1 John 4:19} We are called as Christians to love one another. The bible says in Mark that the greatest commandment we have is to love God and love one another. Pretty important stuff! I cannot think of a more special way to show love than to adopt a child into your home. We have so much love in our marriage and seriously can NOT wait to show our children what it means to love and be loved.
2. Hope! Adoption is all about hope. It gives parents hope to raise a family who might not otherwise have the opportunity. It gives a child in need a hope to have a forever family. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future! {Jeremiah 29:11} God promises to give us hope in life and after! He gives us a hope for eternal life through salvation. That is the most glorious hope of all my friend.
3. To live out God's word! Adoption is nothing new to God. It was His idea from the beginning. Think about it. Jesus was adopted by Joseph! How amazing!! Our loving Father wants to adopt us into His holy Kingdom. He sacrificed His Son as the only perfect way to provide a way for us to be his children forever. Adoption is mentioned in the new Testament six times. Each time the term is used in relation to Jesus redeeming our relationship with our Heavenly Father so that we can be in His family. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as his own children. Now we call Him "Abba, Father". {Romans 8:15} Choosing to bring a child home through adoption and loving that child unconditionally allows us to experience how God loves us and makes us His family!
4. We are are to be God's hands and feet. "Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now." ~Saint Teresa of Avila God put us on earth to be a door for His love to walk through! James tells us we are to care for orphans and widows. How else but to welcome them into your home and family forever?? Oh to bring that sweet, sweet baby home! I know we are commanded to bless others by serving them, but when I lay that baby down to sleep in their own bed for the first time I know I will be the one who is being blessed. What an awesome way to think of ourselves when we say we are God's hands and feet!! I don't know about you, but I am excited to do God's work.
5. One less orphan! Can you imagine my friend, not having a family? Growing up knowing someone loves you, longs for your very presence, and provides you with a safe place to live are some of our greatest gifts. Knowing there are babies and children in the world who are abandoned and hungry makes my heart hurt. Seeing precious babies in orphanages not knowing love, never experiencing a mother's loving touch, knowing they have to soothe themselves to sleep each night is heartbreaking. One less my friend. One LESS orphan. One less baby who needs a mama's whisper of a promise to never leave them is what I want to make happen! When I adopt my baby there will be ONE less.
6. Redemption! Everyday we see sorrow, sickness, and death. We live in a fallen world my friend. There is no way around that. We must accept the fact that in our lives we will hurt. There will be so many things that cut to our very core and make us cry out, "Why?" There will be things we feel are unfair in our lives and in the lives of the people we love. We will ask God to take these things from us, to make us whole again. Sometimes the answer will be yes, but many times the answer will be no. I know because I have prayed for so much hurt to be taken from me and my family. I have prayed for my mother to be healed and sickness taken from her body and mind. I have prayed to carry my own children. I have prayed these prayers again and again and again. But the answer is no my friend and I have to accept that. There is an answer God does give us though that gives us hope. As children of God we have been redeemed. We have been rescued, healed and saved by His hand. We will all be healed one day in heaven and stand before him humbled by His magnificence. Adoption will be one of my chances on earth to be redeemed. It will be my child's chance on earth to be redeemed. We will be perfectly paired out of brokeness only to be healed together in an unbreakable bond!! Surely angels will sing on this glorious day! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble! {Psalm 107:2}
7. A chance at life. Terminating a pregnancy is heartbreaking. It forever changes the mother and child. It has to be a terrifying time for a mother who has an unplanned pregnancy. Fears of shame, financial responsibilities, and how life will ever be normal again have to be tremendous. There are so many loving families who long to provide for children. When a mother chooses an adoption plan for her child she is giving them a chance at life. Not only is she giving her baby life, but she can also live her life knowing she made a better plan for her baby. Birth mothers should be loved, respected and admired. Adoption is a loving, unselfish act. A baby is given a chance at life and they will forever be appreciative. Just ask an adopted child!
8. You instantly join the forever club of adoptive parents. When you talk to another parent going through an adoption you immediately see in each others eyes the journey that is adoption. When we began the adoption process I quickly realized there was an entire club of people in the world who are on the same team as adoptive parents. When you look in their eyes you instantly know the hurt and pain they have gone through and see the redemption adoption has brought them. You immediately appreciate one another because you know just how hard you fought for your child. You join the ranks of others that swam through the oceans of paperwork. You know the angst, the anxiety, the fear adoption brings. You understand when they talk about the anxiousness of their first homestudy. You celebrate approvals and baby steps. You know the true meaning of loving a baby you have never met. You know far, far too many combinations of numbers and letters of forms!! You can honestly say your heart has grown as you have yearned for your baby to come home. You know what it means to love fiercely and fight boldly for your child. You just know. You know what anguish the other has been through to get where they are today.
9. Faith. If nothing else adopting will strengthen your faith. There are so many unknowns. Where to start, who to trust, finances, special needs, birth parents, etc. etc. etc. We have had to walk by faith. There are so many things we cannot be certain of on this journey. The rug can be jerked from under you so easily. Adoption is NOT for the faint of heart my friend. We have had to surrender it all to God, to His will, and His ways. Trusting God will work it all out is the only answer. We have faith that in His perfect time God will move to provide the funds, the people, and the baby to make us a family. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. {Hebrews 11:1}
10. To bring glory to God! When I do make it to Heaven and kneel in the presence of our sweet Father I long for one thing. I long to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant". In everything I do, everything I say, and every where I go I want to bring glory to God. I want all who see me to see Him through me. Adoption has given me the opportunity to speak of God's love for us. It has allowed my faith to grow and for others to experience God's hand at work. Of course it is no accident. This day was written in the beginning of time. This has been and remains my biggest test yet. The waiting is hard, the emotion toll is immense, and people's critical nature have cut me even today. One thing is certain. I know in my heart God has us climbing this mountain for a reason. I will bring glory to Him regardless of our path to adoption! Our children will know just how HARD their parents fought for them and that God will always goes ahead of them no matter their path. This test, this work in my hands will reflect Him. It will bring glory to the Most High!
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