Christmas is the Story of Our Adoption

A few weeks ago, I was reminded of a Bible passage which is very relevant to both the current season of the year, as well as the current season of life for Kendal and me.  The passage, Galatians 4:4-5, reads like this:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

When I re-read this passage, I thought, “Oh, that’s awesome!  I’ve got to write a blog post about it!  I mean, how perfect of a verse is that for us right now?!”  For a few days, I mulled over the passage, jotting down a few ideas here and there in an attempt to get my creative juices flowing.  Ultimately, I stumbled upon an article written by Jason Johnson, a minister from Texas who teaches on foster care and adoption.  Johnson’s blog post perfectly sums up my thoughts on Galatians 4:4-5 and how the Christmas season truly echoes adoption.  To give you a taste, here is one quote which profoundly struck me:

The gospel of our adoption, making its vivid debut that night in Bethlehem, acts not only as the emphasis behind why but also as the model of how we as those adopted into the forever family of God are called to forever give our families to those who need them.  Christmas is ultimately the story of God stepping into our darkness in order to bring light into it.  It, above any and all other motivations, compels us to do the same on behalf of the vulnerable, marginalized and orphaned in this world.

I couldn’t say it better myself.  Christmas truly is the story of how, in our time of absolute darkness, in our time when we were children of wrath, God brought light into our world through the birth of His Son.  In love, God chose us “for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:5).  What an amazing act of love!

Merry Christmas!

For Jason Johnson’s entire article, click here:  The Echoes of Christmas in Adoption 

Waiting

The most common question we have received since announcing that we are adopting, is “Where are you in the process?” The simple answer to that is “We’re just waiting.”

But there really is no “just” about it. We don’t sit around on any given night twiddling our thumbs waiting for a call. No, we, just like any other couple anticipating their child, are preparing for that arrival. We work on the nursery. We buy clothes and bottles and diapers. We make sure our paperwork is up-to-date. We talk about what the day will be like when we become parents. The only difference is, we have no idea when that day will come.

Some days, it seems funny to do some of those things with no “due date.” Other days it’s really sad. But mostly it’s exciting. Though it is hard to wait, our hearts are being prepared for the right baby to become a part of our family at the right time, with every day that goes by, item prepared, and paperwork signed.

Of course, there is a lot more detail that goes into the “waiting,” and we may share more on that in another post. But for now, we just wanted to provide a simple answer as to where we are in the adoption process. We have all of the initial paper work completed, applications approved, and connections made, so now we are waiting for – no, make that anticipating – the arrival of baby F. It could be next week, it could be a year from now. Though we don’t know the day, we anxiously await, and there is hope in the wait.