The Beauty of Adoption

This will be my last post about adoption for a while, but as you can imagine the topic has been on my heart a lot lately. We should be welcoming our 3rd son into our family in the next week or 2, and we cannot wait.

I also know that many of us are struggling with what just happened in Texas. Another mass shooting involving children is something that we just should not have to deal with...ever. Many of you probably cried when you dropped your child off at school, got on your knees in prayer for those families who lost their children, or got angry that these things just keep happening with little or no change accompanying massacres like these.

We had an interview the other day with someone about our upcoming adoption, and one of the questions asked was: "What is your biggest hope and dream for your newest son?" It was Jessica's turn to answer this one, and her answer was simple:

That he would know Jesus.

Our biggest dream is not that he would be well-rounded, highly educated, a great athlete, an agent of change, or anything else like that. Our biggest hope and our biggest dream for our son, and for all of our kids, is that they would know Jesus.

The beauty of adoption is that we can point our son to Jesus. We already love him...A lot. To the point that we have not met or spoken with his birth mom yet, but we love him with all of our heart. But that's not the beauty of adoption.

We are going to feed him well, take care of his needs, make sure he receives an education, and in general give him every advantage we can. But that's not the beauty of adoption. 

The beauty of adoption is that we get to point our son to Jesus, and if our biggest dream and desire for him is that he would know Jesus, what are we doing towards that end?

 - If my biggest dream was to help make him rich, I would find what he is good at and push him relentlessly.

 - If my biggest dream was for him to be a good baseball player, I would get him on every team I could, do private lessons, and push him to know and study the game.

 - If my biggest dream was for him to be highly educated, I would focus on his academics, make him study when others were playing, and make sure he focused on his school work.

Our biggest dream is that he would know Jesus, but I can promise you that helping him know Jesus is not a passive pursuit.

 - It does not mean I take him to church on Sundays and hope his small group leader disciples him.

 - It does not mean that I take him to every extracurricular in the world and then say, "Remember Jesus is most important" while showing him by my actions and his activities that that statement is not true.

 - It absolutely does mean that I teach him, show him, and help him experience Jesus for who He is at the expense of everything else in my life. 

We get the chance to introduce our kids to Jesus. His love, grace, compassion, and love (I know I said "love" twice). This adoption has reminded me of that privilege and responsibility. The shooting in Texas reminded me of that privilege and responsibility.

What I have to ask myself in this adoption and with my other kids is what I hope you are asking yourself as well...What is your biggest hope/dream for your children and for yourself? 

Be honest with yourself. It is very easy to see by the way we live our lives what the answer truly is, but there is always time to change when needed!