[If I actually keep this blog up over the years, this will more than likely be only the first of several adoption-related posts.]
Adoption is a word that has such depth of meaning every time I hear it. We all associate differently with this word...with this act. Some of you have been physically and legally adopted into a family here on this earth. For others, you may have been on the painful end of graciously giving your child up to be adopted by a family. Some of us have hearts for working in and for orphanages, and others may be feeling called to adopt. I know of people who have strong negative views on adoption because of pain they may have experienced through the process. What a range of emotions this word can cause!
Obviously (as with most things in life), I have my own opinions and thoughts about adoption, and I shared them with Chris the minute we started asking questions and weighing our potential future together. I knew that the man I would marry would need to support and come alongside my views on adoption, because it's more than a view--it's a calling by God Himself.
Every girl dreams of being a mother. I strongly believe that. For me, I started the silly little game of picking out names for my future children in middle school. (I don't like any of those names anymore, by the way, and, now, I have a husband that will actually play a part in what we do name them. I still throw names out to him at random to hear his thoughts, and we aren't trying to expand our family at the moment, either. Anyway...tangent over.) I did have one realization in middle school that has ALWAYS stuck. I don't want to adopt. I have to. When I was in seventh grade, God placed in my heart a passion for adoption that I cannot deny is from Him.
I obviously had several questions I wanted answered then, and some of them have been answered over time. When? From what country? How? What gender? How old? ....WHY? Later, God revealed to me that I was to share the Gospel with a pregnant teen who was considering abortion, and that, through her decision to put the baby up for adoption, He would save more than just that child. I really feel that will be our baby. Who knew? God did. Before the beginning of creation! I hear so many people are called to adopt from other countries, and God has planned for us to adopt one from our own country. How cool is that? (We aren't looking yet into the process, but I hear it's a real doozie!)
The beauty of adoption is that it is a reflection of God's love for His people. Before He even knew me, He loved me. He adopted me. He called me HIS, and I became His daughter and part of an amazingly loving family.
Because adoption is so heavy on mine and my husband's hearts, we decided to start a tradition of adoption every year. We will soon begin researching different organizations and praying for clarity on where He wants our adoption focused over the next year. We may end up sending money to an orphanage in Haiti every month, we may be called to "adopt an organization" and donate monthly (ex: Children's Miracle Network, Teen Advisors, Wounded Warrior Project, St. Jude....), we may be called to sponsor a family who is in the process of raising funds for their own adoption. Who knows where God will lead us or how trying this may become for us financially. We are choosing to listen to and trust Him.
With the holidays around the corner, I would like to encourage you to pray over whether or not God is asking you to do something similar in 2014. I do know one thing: He wants us serving and loving others. Ask Him specifically how or where He wants you doing just that.
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27
