November is national adoption month. My excitement when I found this out would probably be a little confusing to most people. Am I adopted? No. Have I adopted? Also, no.
But adoption is something that touches my heart in a way that I can’t quite describe. A few of my close friends growing up were adopted. My cousins were adopted. Just seeing the beauty and the messiness of adoption is something that makes my heart burst.
Adoption is such a picture of the Gospel. God chose us when He did not have to. He rescued us from our sinful life and placed us in His family. He changed our direction and our future.
In the Bible, the term adoption does not just refer to being brought in as a child of another family. When it refers to us being adopted, it is actually a word that indicates choosing an heir. That is how significant our adoption into God’s family. Not just added out of pity and given a random seat at the table. But specifically chosen to represent the family and take on the riches of the family as their own. What an honor and responsibility.
So the idea of adoption has always made my heart skip. There are so many people without families. People with no one to care for them. What makes us different for those people. Why were we blessed with family and security, while they were not?
Nothing. We did nothing to earn the homes we are in, no matter how dysfunctional they may be. While at the same time, many did nothing to be abandoned or displaced. Life is broken and messy. Sometimes there are no good answers for things
God has impressed upon my heart the idea of generosity. It is something I am not naturally good at, which maybe part of the reason I feel urged towards it so strongly at times. God is working on my heart to value it.
One of my biggest, and undeserved blessings is my family and my home. I was placed in a community of people who really cared for me, whether they be blood relation or not. I have been adopted in a sense by many, even as I watch my parents figuratively adopt many into our home as well. It is a sharing of time and love and space and resources that is completely selfless.
Also the current home where I live is an undeserved and generous gift from God. Something to be stewarded well and not hoarded for myself.
Adoption is the sharing of God’s blessings with those who do not have them directly. We are given much, not so that we can keep it to ourselves but so we can extend that to others. Giving someone a permanent home, a room, a seat at the dinner table, and a name, that is the ultimate sacrafice. It is the ultimate generosity. It is the ultimate extension of God’s love. The act itself is a reflection of what God has already done for us. What we will experience in fullness one day.
I have seen the growing pains of adoption. The messy parts. The moments where people get hurt, on both sides. The instances where it doesn’t feel like a blessing, or a gift. It is not rainbow and butterflies and endless gratitude. It is healing, and sharing, and rearranging. It is joy and tears. The beauty if adding someone not only into your home, but your heart. To do that you need to be ready to absorb some of their hurt and sin. And you need to trust that they will do the same for you.
While we have not personally experienced adoption in our home, we hope to one day be a part of this ministry somehow, whether directly or indirectly. We will champion those who are, we will pray alongside those in the midst of need. We will pray that our heart and home be open to whatever God has planned for us.
I urge you to consider the idea of adoption. To pray that God would make His purpose for your home and family known. It is not for everyone, but it might be for more of you than you think.
I pray that no matter what, we will always be about the work of adoption. I pray that even i we are not called to it ourselves that our home will be a safe place for those who are lost and hurting. For those who do not feel like they belong. I pray that my adult home will be like my childhood home. That the doors will always be open, the pantry always stocked, a bed always ready. I pray that we as a church look more and more like this. That the hands and feet of Jesus start in our homes.