What does God say about all this?

Mike and I have always believed that adoption is something that God calls us to do. Whether it means that you actually adopt or that you support the idea, God wants His children to know that we are to care for these children. Moses wrote in Exodus 22:22-24 that "You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn..." I think this is pretty clear that the widows and orphans are extremely important to God. James 1:27 said that "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction..." We are to just be with them and comfort them in their times of need. If God then calls you to adoption, then awesome!

Another important thing to remember is that God is totally in control. We learned this when we were trying to get pregnant and felt like we were controlling our lives. A verse that we constantly turned to was Proverbs 16:9, "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Mike and I realized very soon that even though we had made all the plans and steps towards pregnancy, it was God that was in control of how we were going to become parents. After meditating on this, I realized that sure, being a mom was my plan but I had no control of how that gonna happen. If you ever come in my office or car, you will see this verse in there as a reminder of how God is always in control. There are so many verses (especially in Proverbs) that speak to this idea. God knows what He is doing and if we just sit back and let Him work according to His will, we will be richly blessed!!

Lastly, we need to remember that we ourselves were adopted by Christ into the family of God. Ephesians 1:3-6 states, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved." Wow---God is so good. He chose us before the world was formed to be adopted into this family. It's amazing to be reminded of how much God loves us and I feel so humbled that He chose me. Romans 8:14-15 and 22-23 also speak to this sentiment of God adopting us. I encourage you to look at these verses and let God speak to you on the topic of adoption.

For Mike and I, we have learned a few things. We know that children are a huge blessing in whatever form them come. We hope to never take having a child for granted, especially because they don't always come about in the easiest way. We also know that it is a beautiful example for Christ to have adopted us and hope that we can experience a tiny idea of this as we adopt our child.