Adoption

I walked out of school in the misty rain.
All the cars were lined up along the curb ready to pick up the children.
I could see my mother’s car down the block.

There was no bus service if you lived less than a mile from school.
You walked to school or you were driven.
I usually walked to school unless it was raining.

That day at dismissal, I walked along the sidewalk with another girl.
Out of the blue she said, Do you know that you’re adopted?
I had heard that word before but never knew exactly what it meant.

I thought it meant…baptized.
At eight years old some words are not yet in your vocabulary.

I reached our car and got in the front seat.
My mother began to drive home.
Do you know what somebody just asked me?
They asked if I knew that I was adopted?

I remember the color seemed to drain from my mother’s face.
What did you say to her?
I told her…yes, I know that!
My mother smiled and said no more about it.

The next morning, my mother told me that I had a special day off from school.
We had the whole day together.
We had a long talk about the question that was asked of me and about my answer.
We talked about what it meant to be adopted.

She and my father had a stillborn son and she was never able to have any more children.
My mother desperately wanted to have a child.
The decision was made to adopt.
I was adopted at six weeks old.
I was her precious child, in the truest sense of the word.

Back then, adoption was not talked about as freely as it is now.
Mothers talked among themselves…which is how that girl knew I was adopted.
She overheard our mothers talking.
There was nothing malicious about her question.

My aunt helped me tremendously during that time.
You know, if it wasn’t for you, we would never have heard the sound of little feet running through the house. I pray for your natural mother every day. She did a very brave thing when she delivered you and put you up for adoption. She wanted you to have a better life than she could ever give you.

My aunt never married and never had children of her own.
I was her niece, but I was like the daughter she never had.
We were a small family…I never had brothers or sisters.
I had only one other cousin.

A small family with great love.

I thought of all of this when I ran into a friend from my old church.
She has eight children: five biological children, two adopted domestically, and one adopted internationally.
Their son was one of the last children out of Guatemala, because that country has closed its doors to adoption.

They are ALL her children in the truest sense of the word.
She told me that they are adopting another child from China.
They will have nine children by the beginning of next year, if God allows.
She homeschools all of them.

She shared stories with me about other families that have adopted children.
Children from Russia, Bulgaria, and China.
Children who are malnourished, sad, withdrawn…some with special needs.
Within a short period of time, the children have gained weight, are happy, and talkative.
They thrive on love…just like we all do!

Most of the families she told me about live on the father’s income alone.
They live in small houses which are bursting at the seams.
They wouldn’t have it any other way!

They want to give these children a home and the love they so desperately need.
They want to teach them about the Lord Jesus.
They want to expand God’s Kingdom.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will – to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have the redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. (Ephesians 1:3-8)

God chose us.
God adopted us…because we are spiritual orphans.
As His adopted sons and daughters, we are lavished with the riches of His grace.
We are His children in the truest sense of the word, blessed with every spiritual blessing.

It was another time back then…when I was growing up.
Not a time of secrets, but a time of private decisions.
Adoption was not openly talked about in many families.

It was so refreshing to see my friend talk about the blessing of adoption so freely.
Her openness was vastly different from what I experienced growing up.
Adoption is woven beautifully into the tapestry of their family.
As it should be!

I remember seeing a Family Circus cartoon years ago.
It was so tender to me…as it is to any family who has experienced adoption.

As believers, we can say this, in the truest sense of the word.
We came from the heart of God!
We are adopted as His children…forever and always.