Our Adoption Blessing

I've been posting this month on adoption in honor of November being National Adoption Awareness Month. Thus far I've mostly talked about general topics such as the theology of adoption, God's compassion for the fatherless, and the Christian's responsibility to care for orphans. But tonight I want to post specifically on the great joy that our 3 year old adoption blessing is to us.

I have a 10 year old son and a 3 year old son with girls in between. I've been working hard for several years to train my 10 year old to run ahead and open doors for me and the other kids. Well, our 3 year old has noticed this and he, too runs to get doors for us. The gym where my kids swim has two sets of heavy doors right in a row, so Monk usually gets the first and American Boy struggles to get the second. It's really adorable to see him pushing so hard to get that heavy door open. So last night American Boy also held the door for a man who was walking out behind us. On Wednesdays we go straight from swimming to church and my 3 year old is always excited to go to church, so he turned to the man and said, "I'm going to church. Are you going to church?" The man was kind of taken off guard and muttered something like, "Uh, no." Unphased my bold preschooler fired back with, "Well, I am!" Then just on the other side of the door stood a man taking a cigarette break. Our boy went right up to him as we walked by and said, "Hey, give me five!" The other kids really got a kick out of that. We've been going through The Way of the Master at church on Wednesdays and we decided God's going to use our zealous and bold guy to share the gospel with others. What a blessing to have him for a son!

I mentioned that our adoption blessing loves church- he's really learning about the Lord there and at Community Bible Study, too. His Sunday School teacher was bragging on him the other night that he can tell her what the lessons were about the previous two weeks. He is very attentive! Sunday during the sermon he was listening so carefully that when the preacher asked a rhetorical question, our boy yelled out the answer. Everyone chuckled. Our church remembers praying for our son before we even traveled to Kazakhstan to adopt him, so they've loved him a long time.

Lately he's been asking us to adopt another baby boy from Kazakhstan and I usually tell him that we'd like to do that someday and he should pray about it. He always responds with, "OK, right now, Mom. Let's pray." I haven't let his dad in on this, yet, so we'll have to see how God answers his prayers. Today I was a little unnerved that he asked for two baby boys from Kazakhstan! I corrected him right away that the Lord knows Mommy can only handle one baby at a time:)

Our adoption journey to bring our precious boy home had its share of emotional ups and downs. There was lots of fear on my part, but God had us in His hands the whole time. Big D and I didn't think it was right to pray that he'd be smart, so we didn't. We did pray, however, that he would have lots of personality, like our other kids. Oh boy. He has that in spades! God is so good! (And he's smart as a whip and so compassionate, too.) I want to encourage those of you who are interested in adopting, but fear of the unknown is holding you back. Take a risk. There might be someone missing in your family and you don't even realize it, yet.

Why Adopt?

Psalm 127:3 says that "children are a heritage from the Lord." I have shared with you all in a previous series about my quiverfull convictions and I won't repeat those here, except to reiterate that I believe the Bible teaches that children are a gift from the Lord to be greatly desired and appreciated. We know that God is the giver of every good gift (James 1:17) and what gift, apart from salvation, should be more desired than children? You've heard it said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there." (Job 1:21) Ecclesiastes adds that man "shall take nothing from his labor which he may carry away in his hand." (5:15b) Timothy summarizes both of these verses when he states that, "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out." (1 Tim 6:7)


While it is true that we will carry nothing out of this world, it's not true that we can take nothing with us. According to the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn, which is a very well researched treatise on everything heaven from the Bible, we will take our memories, skills, personality, and relationships. In light of the knowledge that we will know one another in heaven, what better use of time is there on earth than investing our lives in people? There are certainly many ways to do this. Teachers have the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of the children they teach. Pastors and friends are there when folks go through the dark times in life. But it's hard to think of a relationship in which you have greater ministry opportunity than that of the parent-child relationship. So, if the Bible tells us children are a blessing and that every good gift is from God and that we should invest ourselves in others, why not adopt?


I read a beautiful blog post today by Shonni at Nations Around our Table which answers the question "Why adopt again?" and hope you have time to read it. What a wonderful testimony of a love for others, faith that God will work out all the details (finances, sibling adjustment, etc.), and hope that raising these little ones up in the Lord will not be in vain.

A Heart for Orphans

I first became interested in adopting when a friend of mine from college spent a summer in Romania and blogged, although they didn't call it that then, about her experiences ministering in an orphanage there. There were so many children and so few workers. Many of the children were severely neglected. My friend, who had a Master's degree in Kinesiology, tried to engage the kids in fun games that would also be therapeutic for them. She also just loved on them. We've all heard the heart wrenching stories of Romanian orphanages in the 1990s. It was through following her ministry with these precious children that the Lord started giving me a heart for adoption. As I look back on my childhood, though, I see that the seeds were sown then. I remember wanting to sponsor a child in Africa when I was a child myself. I don't know if something came in the mail or if I saw an ad on tv, but I remember asking my mom if I could do it. She agreed and for a short time (I did say "seeds") I sponsored a child in Africa. I can't remember the country or the child's name or even gender, but I do remember that I had a picture of the child that I kept in my room.

Fast forward to the present and I still have a heart for orphans. I do not believe that orphans should be the responsibility of the State, however I am grateful to live in a country that will care for children when no one else will. In my perfect world, though, the church would take care of orphans. And I don't mean the institutional church, I'm referring to the Christian families that make up the Church. Imagine what the world would be like if every Christian family would adopt one child. There would be no more orphans! I know I'm being idealistic and I realize adoption may not be for everyone, but it's still a sobering thought.

If you're like me and have a heart for orphans, but don't know where to get started, let me suggest All God's Children International. AGCI is almost all things orphan ministry. They are a domestic and international adoption agency (9 countries). They also endeavor to help waiting children (older and special needs) find their forever families. They offer child and orphanage sponsorship in several countries. And they even put together short-term missions trips and allow you to somewhat tailor them to your abilities (from construction to holding babies). I found out about AGCI a couple of years ago and have been so blessed by their ministry. They just started facilitating adoptions in Rwanda and also operate in Bulgaria, China, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Nepal, Taiwan, Ukraine, and Washington state.

I'm so grateful for the many self-less people who dedicate their lives to orphan care! They've made it so easy for the rest of us to participate along with them. All we have to do is write a check once a month and we can be part of changing a child's life forever. I would love to know about other agencies that are ministering to orphans, both here and abroad. It's a personal dream of mine for my family to go on a short-term orphan care mission trip someday. I know God will open the door for that in His time.

Orphan Relief Care

I posted earlier this month on God's compassion for the fatherless, and this is really a follow-up to that post. The question remains, if God has a heart for orphans, what should our response be? November being National Adoption Awareness Month, I've been focusing many of my posts on adoption. However, I realize not everyone is in a situation where they are able to adopt a child. As Christians, in light of the knowledge that millions of orphans worldwide will not be adopted, what is our responsibility toward them? I've already shared what God's requirements were for Israel. He demanded that orphans be treated with justice, that a portion of the harvest be left to feed them, and that a portion of the tithe be used to help provide for them. God spelled it out clearly for the Israelites that they were to care for the fatherless.

Jesus further explains in Mathew that when He returns in all His glory He will separate His people from those who were merely among them. To those who are truly His He will say, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me."

Then His righteous people look at Him perplexed and say, "Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?" And Jesus, the King will answer them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethern, you did it to Me." (See Mathew 25:31-46)

I think what Jesus is saying here is that if we really belong to Him, we will be compassionate. How can we have Christ in us and not be compassionate? Not only that, but the outcasts of society are the ones listed in this passage that are deserving of our compassion: those who are hungry and thirsty, foreigners, sick , imprisoned. Certainly helpless orphans fit into this category!

John says it this way. "Whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (1 John 3:17) Now I know some will argue about the interpretation of "brother", but it doesn't change the message of this verse, or the whole book of 1 John for that matter. The message is if you're a Christian, you will love others. And John makes it clear what this love looks like. "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:18)

Christians have an obligation to care for those that have no one else. Orphans are at the top of this list. And while there are many wonderful organizations that feed and clothe orphans, my favorites are those that give them spiritual food. My personal favorite ministry that provides orphan care is Rafiki Foundation, which operates in 10 countries in Africa. Rafiki was started as a ministry outreach of the international branch of Bible Study Fellowship. Their number one priority is teaching the Word of God in Africa. The following quote from their website nicely sums up their mission in Africa. "Since our goal is to develop these children to be godly contributors to their countries in Africa, we do not facilitate the adoption of these children out of their countries, nor do we plan on educating them in the United States. Instead, we will raise and educate them in their home countries so that they will remain and provide the much needed leadership and help in their own culture."

So getting back to my original question about what our response should be...let's all pray about how we can help, even if it's in a very small way. Just $25/month will usually feed these kids (amazing considering I spent $300 at Walmart today for our family of 7 for one week!) and lots of child sponsorship programs ask for only $50/month to cover most of a child's monthly expenses including clothing and education. I know there are many wonderful orphan relief agencies caring for the fatherless all over the world. What's you favorite? I would love to compile a list of Christian orphan care ministries. What an amazing blessing it will be to share in what God's doing in the lives of orphans, right here in our own community and around the world.

Adopted into God's Family

I'm a little surprised that I'm still posting about adoption in the Bible and here it is already the 8th of November (National Adoption Awareness Month). Each time I think this will be the last post in this series, but then I'm so blown away by the riches of the theology of adoption in the Bible that I keep coming back for more.

Today I want to marvel at the grace of God in His adoption of believing Gentiles into His family and their sharing in the covenental relationship with true Israel.

"At that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Ephesians 2:12-13

Paul writes in the above verses about God graciously extending salvation to the Gentiles. Was this a new plan, a plan B as some have suggested? I don't think so. Rather, it seems that God has always had a plan of international adoption to build His family "that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. As He says also in Hosea: 'I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.' And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there they shall be called the sons of the living God." (Romans 9:23-26)

Since Paul is quoting above from Hosea in the Old Testament, deciding to include Gentiles in His family must not have been plan B, but part of God's plan all along. In fact, it is clear from Scripture that God's family transcends race, culture and nationality. "For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham." (Romans 9:6) "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galations 3:26-29)

The theological argument for God's plan of international adoption has merit, as seen in the verses above, but much more precious to me are the living examples we have in Scripture.

Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute who feared God more than her own death, risked her life to hide the Israelite spies. The book of Hebrews credits her belief or faith for this act. Not only was her life and the lives of her family spared by Joshua and the Israelites, but God goes so far as to include her in the lineage of Christ. I think that shows God always had a plan of international adoption for His family.

Ruth the Moabite widow also chooses the narrow path when she follows her mother-in-law to Bethlehem and uncertain provision, rather than staying with her own family in Moab after her husband's death. Again, the Bible tells us it is Ruth's desire to be identified with the one true God and His people that enables her to make this difficult decision. We all know the happy ending to this story. Boaz extends help to Ruth and Naomi, perhaps out of duty and obedience to God at first, but then falls in love with Ruth and marries her. There may have been prejudice in Israel against foreigners, but not with Boaz. The honorable and noble Boaz was the son of Rahab, so he had an intimate understanding that being a child of God was a matter of faith, not genetics. And Ruth would become the grandmother of David, the boy who refused to cower in fear against Goliath and the Philistines, who grew into the great King of Israel described as being a man after God's own heart. And of course, our Lord and Savior would be born from the line of David. The reason Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem to register for the census, before the birth of Jesus, is because they are both descended from King David.

God didn't accept Rahab and Ruth into His family as second class citizens or as slaves. In fact, there are three Gentile women listed in the geneology of Christ (Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth) in the first chapter of Mathew. I think the reason their names are specifically listed, since women are often not recorded in geneologies in the Bible, is to show us that God has always had a plan for building His family through international adoption.

Adopted by God

This is really a follow-up to my theology of adoption post. There’s so much in the Bible about adoption that just a few posts do not do it justice. In fact, it could be argued that to understand adoption is to understand salvation. The actions of a parent during the adoptive process mirror those of our Heavenly Father toward those He saves: seeking, choosing, redeeming, nurturing, maturing, and even disciplining. Our heavenly Father even makes us heirs right alongside His begotten Son.

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Galations 4:4-6

Amazing, isn’t it? We, who were once slaves to sin, now are heirs of God through the atoning work of Christ on the cross. What a gracious God and Savior we have! If we are adopted by God and joint-heirs with Christ, wouldn't that make us brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ?

The writer of Hebrews puts it this way. “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.’” Hebrews 2:10-12

Again, the word amazing comes to mind. The Lord who is God, the One who breathed the world into existence, the very Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us, our Savior, the one to whom every knee will bow in heaven and on earth … calls us brethren. He is not ashamed to call those He has redeemed brethren. We become brothers and sisters of our own Savior through the adoptive work of the Father, as accomplished by the atoning work of the Son.


I had some young men come by my house today and we spent an hour talking together and sharing Scriptures. The difference in belief we kept coming back to was whether we have some work or shared responsibility in our salvation. I was thinking about this in relation to adoption. How could I make myself a child of God and sister of Christ? I was only a slave and a slave is at the mercy of its master. But, by the grace of God, He sought me out and brought me into His family with all the privileges that entails. If you're a believer, did you know you're adopted by God? Aren't you glad?

Adoption, it's personal.

From A Treasury of Adoption Miracles by Karen Kingsbury...

There's a story often told of a particularly rough storm that came up one night and left a sandy beach strewn with starfish. The next morning a child walked along the shore, stopping every few feet to pick up a starfish and fling it back into the sea. An old man watched the child and finally shouted at him, "Why bother, son? There are too many starfish to make a difference!" With that, the boy picked up another starfish and looked at it intently before heaving it out to sea. Then turning to the old man, he said, "It makes a difference to that one."

I love that story! Adoption is personal. It makes all the difference in the life of the child you adopt and that child in turn makes all the difference in your family. Can you believe the boy pictured below happily swinging wasn't always a part of our family? He was always meant to be, though. God uses more than one method to make a family and I'm so grateful that our American Boy is part of ours.


Some fun facts about our adoption miracle to help make our story personal to you.

1. He is an adoring big brother. Having Baby Lu made me fall even more in love with him since it brought out this tender, caring side of him. He is so precious with his baby sister!

2. My kids call seats when running to the car. Not wanting to miss out on the fun our American Boy always yells out at the top of his lungs, "I CALL MY BOO-STER!" He feels quite good about himself that he gets it every time!

3. Even though he's only 3, or maybe because of his age, he's always the first to remind us if we've forgotten to pray. He also makes it impossible for us to forget family worship. Currently his favorite hymn is "Nothin' but the Blood".

4. Everyone else in our family wants another baby girl (except Big D who would be happy to be through having kids:), but our sweet boy says he's praying for a baby boy. Lately he's been saying he wants a baby boy from Kazakhstan. When I tell him we'll pray about it, he says, "Yeah, right now," and insists we pray right then and there.

5. He's named for his grandfather, my dad. I've always wanted him to know this so we've rehearsed his name (all four of them) a couple of times a day since he's been with us. I decided to test him a few months ago to see if he knew he was named for his grandfather, so I asked him what his name was. He told me. Then I asked him what his grandfather's name was. He told me and his face lit up as he made the connection, "AFTER ME!!" he yelled with glee.

6. He never leaves ANY food on his plate.

7. He loves taking walks with his baby sister right next to him.

8. He's extrememly talkative. So much so that I've recently started encouraging him to take time out to listen for a little while. That usually lasts about 2 seconds until he thinks of something else to say.

9. He overheard the girls talking about marriage and announced that he's going to marry Ella, a 2 year old at our church. He seems to know what he wants. We did have to tell him that he's not allowed to kiss Ella (it was cute the first time, but not so much after a while).

10. Until just recently he was afraid to swing.