It's a Wednesday evening and I am home alone. That. Never. Happens. I so should be doing something else, but instead I am writing my thoughts! Yep, I am crazy!
The subject of "why we should support adoption" is a sticky one. There are a lot of thoughts Kenney and I have on this, so it's been really hard to compile my thoughts into one. I think I'll follow the K.I.S.S method here...I will try to keep it simple.
If you haven't read Why Does Adoption Cost So Much? then you need to. Before you can really understand the scope of this, you have to understand the Gospel of Adoption. The very heart of the gospel is God's passion to not only redeem sinners, but to adopt them as His sons and daughters. (Ephesians 1: 4-5) Assuming we are on the same page then, I'll continue.
Point 1: As Christians we should support our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Acts 4:32-35 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.
As believers in Christ, we share everything we have with each other.
Point 2: I should be passionate about what God is passionate about.
Verse after verse, God shows His compassion for the fatherless and His love for the orphan.
Psalm 68:6 ... He sets the lonely in families...
Exodus 22:22 ... you must not exploit a widow or an orphan...
Deuteronomy 10:18 ... He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice...
Psalm 10:14 ... You defend the orphans...
Psalm 82:3 ...give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute...
Psalm 146:9 ... He cares for orphans and widows...
Isiah 1:17 ... defend the cause of orphans...
James 1:27 ...pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for the orphans...
There are more verses, but I think you get the point. GOD CARES about orphans. SO WE SHOULD CARE about orphans.
How we choose to "care" is at our discretion. It could mean adoption, or financially supporting women's programs, orphanages, or an adopting couple. It could be volunteering our time for, fostering, donating, and much more.
Everyone has things they fight for, they are passionate about, or that they support, but I think the real point is adoption is not just something I am passionate about, but God is.
Point 1: As Christians we should support our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Acts 4:32-35 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.
As believers in Christ, we share everything we have with each other.
Point 2: I should be passionate about what God is passionate about.
Verse after verse, God shows His compassion for the fatherless and His love for the orphan.
Psalm 68:6 ... He sets the lonely in families...
Exodus 22:22 ... you must not exploit a widow or an orphan...
Deuteronomy 10:18 ... He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice...
Psalm 10:14 ... You defend the orphans...
Psalm 82:3 ...give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute...
Psalm 146:9 ... He cares for orphans and widows...
Isiah 1:17 ... defend the cause of orphans...
James 1:27 ...pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for the orphans...
There are more verses, but I think you get the point. GOD CARES about orphans. SO WE SHOULD CARE about orphans.
How we choose to "care" is at our discretion. It could mean adoption, or financially supporting women's programs, orphanages, or an adopting couple. It could be volunteering our time for, fostering, donating, and much more.
Everyone has things they fight for, they are passionate about, or that they support, but I think the real point is adoption is not just something I am passionate about, but God is.
Point 3 : Asking for help is hard for me.
Okay, so that has nothing to do with supporting adoption, but it does have to do with me, and this is my blog! I remember when I was in grade school and we had Jump Rope For Heart. We had to have sponsors to support us, and I nearly had a panic attack going to people to ask them to support me to jump rope for the American Heart Association. It was so hard for me, that I actually made my little sister (yes, I am the oldest, and we can do that) go door to door for me, selling, because I didn't want to do it. In the eighth grade to earn money to go to Washington D.C. we had to sell candy bars. I am pretty sure I spent nearly all of my babysitting money on the chocolate just so I wouldn't have to ask people to buy a candy bar. Don't ask what I did with the chocolate...
Obviously there are some issues of humility and pride going on here in me, but know that to become vulnerable, to ask for help, to be needy and put ourselves out there is hard. Kenney and I have made sacrifices to be able to adopt these babies. We've cancelled our cable. We drive crappy paid for cars. My grocery budget is 250 dollars a month. I cut the families hair. There are barely any dinners out or concerts or movies. The point is NOT to make ourselves martyrs, but to point out that even with our own sacrifices we will still need the help of our friends, family, co-workers and most importantly our brothers and sisters in Christ.
To tell you that we don't have it all together, to tell you we don't have a designer home or car, to tell you we can't afford to do certain things has been and is quite the humbling experience. To tell you parenting our three kids isn't easy, to tell you some days I have no idea how I am going to parent two more, to tell you our life isn't perfect is humbling.
Praise God that He is glorified in our humility. Praise God that through our weaknesses we can see God's glory!
James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up.
Okay, so that has nothing to do with supporting adoption, but it does have to do with me, and this is my blog! I remember when I was in grade school and we had Jump Rope For Heart. We had to have sponsors to support us, and I nearly had a panic attack going to people to ask them to support me to jump rope for the American Heart Association. It was so hard for me, that I actually made my little sister (yes, I am the oldest, and we can do that) go door to door for me, selling, because I didn't want to do it. In the eighth grade to earn money to go to Washington D.C. we had to sell candy bars. I am pretty sure I spent nearly all of my babysitting money on the chocolate just so I wouldn't have to ask people to buy a candy bar. Don't ask what I did with the chocolate...
Obviously there are some issues of humility and pride going on here in me, but know that to become vulnerable, to ask for help, to be needy and put ourselves out there is hard. Kenney and I have made sacrifices to be able to adopt these babies. We've cancelled our cable. We drive crappy paid for cars. My grocery budget is 250 dollars a month. I cut the families hair. There are barely any dinners out or concerts or movies. The point is NOT to make ourselves martyrs, but to point out that even with our own sacrifices we will still need the help of our friends, family, co-workers and most importantly our brothers and sisters in Christ.
To tell you that we don't have it all together, to tell you we don't have a designer home or car, to tell you we can't afford to do certain things has been and is quite the humbling experience. To tell you parenting our three kids isn't easy, to tell you some days I have no idea how I am going to parent two more, to tell you our life isn't perfect is humbling.
Praise God that He is glorified in our humility. Praise God that through our weaknesses we can see God's glory!
James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up.
I stand in awe to know that God is graciously involved in our adoptions. He has done it himself. He knows what it costs. And he stands ready to support us all the way to the end!
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