Enjoy today's testimony from a heart on a different side of adoption...the waiting side. I found Katie's blog through Mississippi Women Bloggers, where I noticed she and her husband were praying about starting the adoption process. I immediately reached out and have followed her story until this point...the waiting. Oftentimes the most difficult part of the adoption process. I asked her to share with you why they chose adoption. She, like Brantley, believes that adoption is "motivated by theology...not biology." Please take a moment to hear her heart, watch their video, and even take some time to hear her husband's heart on adoption as well.
But you see, we are in the final waiting stage of our first adoption journey. We could literally receive a call any day from our social worker with the news that we've received a placement. And to keep me from going crazy with anticipation, I've tried to fill my days with activities and thoughts that don't revolve around adoption. So every time I sat down to write this post, I just couldn't do it. My mind would immediately go to "why haven't we got a call yet, when will we get a call, or I'm not adequate to share my story here because nothing's happened yet..." There's just so much my heart could easily pour out to you today, but I just can't seem to find the words. So, I'll share this video with you first. This is the video our birth mother will be watching when she is in the process of picking a family. This time around, we've felt led to adopt domestically. Honestly, this video pretty much covers everything I wanted to share with you today. I still cry in unbelief every time I watch it that we are finally here. The time has finally come. Adoption has been our prayer for many moons and many months; it's still surreal to me that we are finally officially waiting for a placement.
So without further ado...
There you have it. That's us. That's our story.
Husband and I have been asked this question quite a few times:
"Why adopt when you can have your own children?"
So I'm going to copy something he wrote a little while back. Husband has a way of saying what I'm trying to say only in a wayyyy better way. You know, because he's amazing:
"When people have asked me why we’re adopting when we can have “our own,” I have to bite my tongue, because any child we adopt will certainly be a child of “our own.” We will show them the same love that we show our biological son, Canaan. We’ll celebrate all of their birthdays with cake and ice cream. We’ll raise them in the same manner and give them the same opportunities, and they’ll even receive the same discipline. By God’s grace, we’ll show them all grace, and, most importantly, always point them to Jesus. Because they won’t be our adopted children and our biological children. They’ll be our children. To borrow a line from Tony Merida, our quest for adoption is motivated by theology, not biology.
At the end of the day, Christians should not adopt simply because of the desire or the need. We should adopt because of the calling to care for the orphan and the fatherless. We are not social activists, but ambassadors of the Kingdom, a Kingdom in which no citizen is unloved or unwanted. Aside from marriage, there is no greater cultural illustration of the Gospel than adoption. We were the orphan, and we were not only unloved, but unlovable, mired in the wallow and filth of our own sin. But God saved us, rescuing us not only from our sin, but to his glorious grace and an eternal inheritance in Christ. The apostle Paul talks about this in Romans 8:
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:12-17, ESV)
God had “his own” Son. But out of his abundance of goodness, grace, and love, he still chose to adopt us as his children, to give us a life abundant and eternal that we would never know or experience without him. So Katie and I consider adoption an act of obedience to the call that God has placed on our lives: to pour out goodness, grace, and love on those who may not experience it otherwise, to give them a home and a family they would never have in an orphanage, all for their good and for His glory.
I certainly recognize that not every Christian is called or equipped to adopt children. But we are all called to care for the orphan. Maybe that means you help others financially and prayerfully in their adoption journey. Maybe it means you should participate in foster care, or sponsor a child through an agency like Compassion, or contribute to a Christian adoption agency like Bethany. But maybe, just maybe, he has called you to adopt. I can’t tell you what God has in store for you. But pray that God would reveal it to you. Recognize the need that exists, pray that God would burden you with a desire to respond, and be obedient to the calling he gives you. That’s precisely why we’re adopting. Won’t you join us?"
4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the Lord;
exult before him!
5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation. (Psalm 68:4-5, ESV)
Link is here. Click on Gospel Centered Adoption.
Thank you so much Megan for letting me share my story today. It's really quite humbling you even asked. You can read more about our adoption journey here and view our profile book here,
No comments:
Post a Comment