: the act or process of beginning to use something new or different
: the act or process of giving official acceptance or approval to something
Adoption has been on my mind for quite a while as I have watched Donny and Melissa move through the process. It's been a long road, emotionally challenging, financially draining, tedious and time-consuming, frustrating and arduous. Has it been worth it? Absolutely!! The Bible has a few things to say about adoption.
Galatians 4:4-7
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[a]6 Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[b] Father.”7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are His child, God has made you also an heir.
Ephesians 1:4-6
4 For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love5 He[a]predestined us for adoption to sonship[b] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.
Romans 8:14-17
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[a] And by Him we cry, “Abba,[b] Father.”16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.
I've written before about our experience as a family when we met Tammera and eventually took her into our home and then into our hearts as a granddaughter, daughter, sister, and aunt.
It was partly my experience with loving Tammera that assured me that welcoming Donny and Melissa's future child would never be an issue. Their child has been in my heart for years and there is not one tiny piece of me that thinks of that child as any different than any of my other grandchildren. Their child will be a son or daughter, an heir, "officially accepted, new, different" (Webster's definition), chosen, predestined, redeemed, loved - and their child will KNOW that he/she belongs to them. It has been a difficult road for them but their love for their future child has kept them going. The same was true for Christ. His was a huge burden to bear and yet he sacrificed Himself gladly for our sake.
I sometimes forget that these same adjectives apply to me as God's child. I am also chosen, predestined, loved, an heir. I am a new and different creature in Christ. I am accepted and redeemed. If I can love a child destined to join Donny and Melissa before it is even born, how much more does God love me? It is impossible to understand or grasp the depth of God's infinite love for me. And His Spirit tells me this is true. So awesome. May I live in the knowledge that no matter what, my position is secure in Him and someday, I will share in His glory forever! Amen!
