Matthew 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
I have wanted to do a post for a while about adoption. It is a topic that is very dear to my heart and I believe, from reading Gods Word, dear to Gods heart as well. As after all, we are all adopted too, into Gods family!
Romans 8:14-16 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Before I got married, when I thought about adoption, I always
pictured it as a way for people to have a child when other means had failed. The people that I had met who had adopted,
adopted a baby at birth and raised it as their own. I
believe that is a wonderful thing to give a home to a child and bring the joy
of raising a child to a couple. But once
I started doing foster care my eyes were opened to a whole new world I knew
nothing about. At first it was not an easy
thing to see or feel comfortable about. It is over whelming and sad.
The need was so great. I wanted to fix the
situation, help them all, my heart was heavy from seeing it and learning
it. When we first started doing foster care I saw
children that languished in care (in the system) and them needing homes to be
adopted. The children that had their
parental rights terminated on, for terrible things, if the foster families
could not or did not want to adopt them…they often just sat in foster care waiting
for a family to come forward to adopt them.
Tim and I literally watched many of these children grow up and age out
of the system. After seeing that, my
eyes were then opened to how large of a number that was. How there was a website for almost every state
in the union showing picture after picture of children that had their parental
rights terminated and were wards of the state. (AdoptUSkids) Snap shot after snap shot with brief descriptions under them telling a
little about that smiling face. That is
how we found Antonio. I stumbled upon the Georgia
website called My Turn Now.
I know that most of these children have special needs. Special needs to the state can mean anything
from being over the age of 3 years old, to a large sibling group, to a child of
a minority, to a child that has been diagnosed with something. I believe all children deserve to have a
family. To have love, to feel and be
safe. I was so sad to learn of it all. Since finding out then about these kids, it
has never left my heart and mind. I speak of it often to people. I try to advocate for the children that need homes.
The next situation that was brought to my attention was
after we had Elizabeth come into our lives.
After she came to live with us, we spent a great deal of extended stays
in hospitals. It was there we learned
about “border babies”. These are babies
or children that have entered the hospital and been abandoned and have such
medical needs that a foster home could not be found for them. I have met, played with and seen many of
these children. Many of these children living years in the
hospital. While staying in the hospital with Elizabeth, by the grace of God, I
was able to help at least one child out and into a home and is now
adopted. The mother of that child was
able to get another child that had been in the hospital her whole life (five
years) out and into a foster home that was a nurse.
But most “children’s hospitals” across the nation have some of these
children in them. It is just not
discussed or spoken of. The hospitals
absorb the cost. We all pay the price.
The next adoption situation that I learned about was
international adoption. There are soooo
many children, especially those with special needs that are waiting in foreign
countries to be adopted. I pour over their
pictures as well. The ones on Reece’s Rainbow and other sites. (RainbowKids) I pray for
them. Some of those children are living
in just deplorable situations. I have
seen them die before being adopted. Many
so tiny for their age. A 14 year old
child that weighed 11 pounds. Yes, you
read that right. 11 pounds. Child after child that needs to be
redeemed. That need to be set free. That need a mommy and a daddy…a family….a
place to call home.
Psalms 68:6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth
out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
Please don’t go to this link if you can’t handle the sight. (Fair
warning) But this is a blog page of a dear sweet family that have went to adopt
these institutionalized children time and time again. They gave them a home and loved them thru their
institutional behaviors and these kids flourish! This particular blog page I am sending you to,
is a page she compiled of before and after pictures of many of the children that have been adopted and
saved by many different families. Praise God. The images never leave my mind. No Greater Joy Mom "seeing is believing"
I don’t feel it is every persons calling to adopt. Matter of fact…I know it is not every families
calling to adopt. I understand that we are all different, have
different talents, and are able to serve the Lord in different ways. We are all a different part of the body of
Christ having a different function from each other……..But there are a few
things in God’s Word that we are all called to and two of those things are to
care for the widows and orphans. I am a
quiet person. I try to never ask for
help and do things on my own with Gods help.
But I am going to ask something from you. It is something God asks of you as well…. Something
that won’t take you very long or inconvenience you. I am asking you to join with me and many
others to please pray. Pray daily and
often for these orphans to find families.
For God to raise up Godly men and women to come forward for these
children and provide the finances for these children to be adopted.….. If you feel led… look at these websites
and fervently pray over these children’s pictures, using their names, bringing
them before the throne of God for help and a family. To make it easy, pick one child a week. Print out their picture and put it on the
fridge and every time you see it, touch it and pray for that child.
I am also asking anyone who reads this, if you are very
brave…and truly feel led of God……. to please pray with an open mind and heart…listening
for Gods answer for two weeks about orphans.
To pray about, if it is His will for you to sponsor a waiting child. Every bit helps so much. Maybe sponsor, pray for, or give a small
donation to, a family that is trying to
reach the amount of money they need to go and get their child. And for the very brave, those who maybe had a
seed planted in their mind and heart about adoption, waiting to hear from God
what to do with their lives….to pray if God has a child, your child, out there
waiting for you to bring them home and redeem them.
Again, I know that every family is not called to adopt. Adoption can be a scary thing for us as well
as the child….…Adoption is time consuming , to complete all the paperwork
and classes. Adoption is life changing,
it will totally change your life to bring another child, often with huge needs
into your pretty calm and normal life. Adoption is a lot of work! To raise a
child as unto the Lord is a lot of work and prayer! No matter who that child is. Adoption is costly, it is very expensive to
pay for an adoption, but if it is Gods will, He owns it all and will provide every penny. Jesus knows adoption is costly as it cost Jesus His very life.
It will cost us ours,
to devote to a child to raise it.
Tim and I are normal average every day people. We didn't adopt to be popular, because we had a lot of time or money, because we wanted a huge family, because we thought people would like us or admire us. We adopted because God asked us to do it and the need is so very great. He asked us to stretch out of our comfort zone time and time again. To walk into very scary territory at times where we felt less than qualified or able. But once we stepped up to what He asked of us, He was there every step of the way and we have literally seen miracles and been blessed in such huge ways that we never would have seen if we had not lived the life God asked us to.
Tim and I are normal average every day people. We didn't adopt to be popular, because we had a lot of time or money, because we wanted a huge family, because we thought people would like us or admire us. We adopted because God asked us to do it and the need is so very great. He asked us to stretch out of our comfort zone time and time again. To walk into very scary territory at times where we felt less than qualified or able. But once we stepped up to what He asked of us, He was there every step of the way and we have literally seen miracles and been blessed in such huge ways that we never would have seen if we had not lived the life God asked us to.
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