When someone finds out we adopted the most common reaction is curiosity. I get so many questions about the process and why we decided to do it. The majority of questions I get start out like this, "Tell me truthfully..." and usually include something like, "aren't you worried that..." or "what if...". These questions do not offend me at all. There is nothing I love more than talking about how Ethan came to be part of our family. And I can't say I blame people for being curious. I can't say I blame them for having hesitant or somewhat negative first impressions about the process of adoption or taking in a child that is not biologically your own. Because I had a lot of those same fears before God took them away from me.
So, in this post I want to be perfectly truthful about adoption, or at least my experience with it so far.
Adoption has without a doubt been the best decision my husband and I have made in our almost 11 years of marriage. Better than him getting out of the military. Better than us moving back to Texas. But the truth is we did not make that decision alone. God planted a seed in both of our hearts a long time before we adopted. It was such a small seed that we did not even share our hopes with each other until years later. As we started the process we faced many roadblocks but God continued to knock them down, one by one, all the while strengthening our faith and trust in Him and His plan.
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." ~Romans 8:28
Adoption has opened my eyes to a whole new way of loving and what love means. It has taught me that His kind of love has no fear (worries).
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear." ~1 John 4:18
Adoption has shown me that God blesses those who seek His will.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." ~Matthew 7:7
Adoption has shown me that my love has no limits or boundaries.
"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." ~1 Corinthians 13:7
Adoption has helped me to become far less judgmental of others. It has changed my outlook on life and changed my heart.
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." ~Luke 6:37
Most importantly, adoption has shown me that family has an entirely different meaning than what I always thought. It has made me realize that we are all part of His family. It doesn't matter whether we are related by blood, come from different backgrounds, the color of our skin or the amount of money we have.
"God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." ~Ephesians 1:5
We all have the ability to love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). And He calls us to share that love with others (1 John 4:7).
And that, my friends, is the truth about adoption.
~Jewels*
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