Saturday, June 22, 2013

day 22: adoption pictures.

My posts seem to be hitting the internet a little bit later & later each night. Tonight it's because the Rachel friend has been gone ALL WEEK and she'll be gone all of NEXT week to boot, so we had to cram 2 weeks (and one weekend) worth of fun into less than 24 hours. So, it's at the end of a long [but extremely worthwhile and filled with lots of fantastic movie watching and even more fantastic conversations] day that I'm finally sitting down to post about:

[adoption] 

In so many ways I am so very unqualified to try & write about this topic. I take it crazy seriously, and am best friends with people who take it even more so...and rightly so. Because isn't adoption the very heartbeat of the Gospel? 

"But I thought it was love?" 

It is. Love through adoption. Pictured through the unconditional acceptance of a child not your own, to be cherished, loved, and accepted as if he or she was. 

It's always made me kind of tilt my head and wonder when people say they just "don't feel like they're called to adopt." I'm not questioning the statement....I'll also go ahead & publicly say I'm not sure adoption is in my future. I want my own husband, my own kids, my own family...selfishly so. But isn't the whole point that we can sit here and talk about Christ calling us TO adoption because God called us THROUGH adoption? 

"But when the set time had come God sent His son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out 'Abba, Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but God's child, and since you are His child, God has made you also an heir." 
-Galatians 4:4-7- 

"But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God." 
-John 1:12- 

In case you're missing this, this is CRAZY. First of, God doesn't owe anyone on Earth ANYTHING....but for those of us who are Gentiles (as in not the Jews, aka God's original chosen people) this is doubly true. But when we believe and accept Christ, we are given the right to be regarded as God's children. Not only are we called Children of God, but we are given EQUAL. STATUS. with Christ, God's Son, as heirs to the throne. 

Allow me to rephrase. 

The God that we have rejected since Eve reached out to take the apple, loved us enough to send His ONLY Son to Earth for us. That would have been enough. Not only that, but Christ died, was buried, and rose again, eternally breaking the chains of death and highlighting the glory of God FOREVER. That would have been enough. God goes further. He's not satisfied with "enough". Christ turns and reaches out with open hand to show us broken chains. He takes life eternal, purchased with His sweat, blood, heartbreak and pain, and offers it to us as a gift. No work necessary, no merit required. And He offers it to us, not as servants, slaves or beggars, but as sons and daughters, heirs to the throne of His Father. 

To say "we have done absolutely nothing and can do nothing to deserve this" seems a little bit redundant. 

Honestly, I think adoption is one of the most unique and clearest pictures of this aspect of the Gospel that we have...and I love watching it. It takes parents that God has endowed with special amounts and kinds of grace, brothers & sisters open hearted to change, and families willing to accept that not everyone will understand. And I think that's beautiful :) 

I'm not saying everyone should go rush off and reconsider their futures, or that people who don't feel like God is leading them to adopt should feel guilty. Like I said....I'm not sure either. What I AM saying is be open to it, because God opened it to you. Come at it with an open & willing heart...and understand that offering certain parts of your life & heart unconditionally to the Lord doesn't mean He'll definitely take them...it just means you trust Him enough to give Him the reigns. 

You do that....and I'll try to do the same :) 

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