It has been interesting to write this blog over the last few years. Part of my intent in writing has been to have a cathartic outlet. I also thought that someone else might be interested in some of the things I needed to write and that I might benefit someone by my writing.
I have gone through periods where I had a lot to say (see my posts on our Kenya trip). I have gone through times where I had nothing to say (see the period between November 2011 and March 2012). I have recently had a lot on my mind that I wasn't ready to write about yet.
Tonight, some of that has erupted and I need to write this.
You may have picked up on some of the hints in previous posts that adoption has been on my mind. It has actually been on my mind for several years, but the time wasn't right for our family until now. Our family has indeed recently decided to pursue adoption and, barring failing our home study or being rejected by some governmental agency, we hope to add a child to our family sometime in the next year or so.
Why am I just now writing about it? Good question. We needed to get far enough along in the process to figure out whether we qualified to adopt. We needed to make a few decisions about how and when to proceed before we made our decision public. I needed to internally process some of my thoughts before I could put them in writing.
Why adopt? Another good question. There are a number of reasons. Reason #1 for us is that we believe that this is God's plan for our family. God makes it clear in scripture that care for the fatherless is important to Him.
Exodus 22:22 "You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child."
Deuteronomy 10:18a "He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow"
Deuteronomy 24:19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Deuteronomy 27:19 “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’"
Job 31:18 (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow)
Psalm 68:5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.
Psalm 146:9 The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.Isaiah 1:17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.
Adoption is a God-created process. Christians who examine the scriptures will find that the entire plan of salvation is actually a plan for adoption. God wants to adopt us and make us His children. He wants His children to follow His example and become parents to the fatherless.
John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!"
Romans 8:23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Romans 9:4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
Galatians 4:5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Ephesians 1:5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
So, what happened tonight that made me have to write? Well, I was working on one of the required educational courses for adoption when I read a sample referral from the country from which we plan to adopt. I know it was just a sample, but the referral stated that the child was discovered in a garden. The child had been abandoned in the garden and was being bitten by ants. The referral stated that the child was "lucky" to have been bitten by ants, and not by hyenas or other wild animals, as frequently happens to other abandoned children. Keep in mind that this "sample referral" was intended for people who had already decided to adopt, not for those who were still trying to decide whether they would adopt. This leads me to believe that this "sample" situation is not a sample at all.
I was overwhelmed by the thought.
As I said at the beginning of this post, I partially write as a catharsis.
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