When Rob and I began our whole adoption journey back in 2005, I must confess that our motivations were not much more than the simple desire to have a child. However, as we have followed God's leadership and been willing to walk through the doors that He Himself has opened to us, our minds have been changed, our hearts have been expanded, and our lives have been sanctified.
Griffen was born in February, 2006. By October, we were driving to the courthouse in Valparaiso, IN to legally finalize his adoption. In our excitement, we paid little attention to the formal court hearing. After all, we were captivated by the cutest little blonde haired baby who had stolen our hearts and had changed our lives completely. When the papers were signed and stamped, we said our good-bye's and got in our car to begin the 2 hour drive back home. As we drove, I browsed through the paperwork and began reading portions out loud to Rob. While there were pages full of legal jargon, I finally came to one paragraph which read, "The court hereby declares that Griffen Anthony Fuller is now the legal son of Robert and Heidi Fuller and is thereby privileged to all the rights and benefits, just as if he were their natural born son." By this point tears were streaming down both our faces as we pulled our car over to the side of the road. And while we were undoubtedly ecstatic that the legal process was behind us, that was not what had spurred our emotions. Rather, Rob looked at me and said, "That's what God did for us." Those were my sentiments exactly. In that moment, we experienced firsthand what God had done for us in salvation. The similarities were astounding -
1. Our love for Griffen existed even before his birth. God loved us before we were even born.
"[God] loved me before the foundation of the world." (John 17:24)
2. We chose to bring Griffen into our family before he ever expressed his love to us. God chose us before we ever could have earned his favor.
"He chose us in him before the foundation of the world." (Ephesians 1:4)
3. We chose to make personal sacrifices to adopt Griffen. In spite of our sinfulness, God chose to sacrifice for us.
"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
4. Adoption can be an expensive, long, and stressful process. God paid a great price to buy our adoption into His family.
"You were bought with a price." (I Corinthians 6:20)
5. Adoption made Griffen equal to any biological offspring. Spiritual adoption makes us equal heirs with Jesus Christ, God's Son.
"We are children of God...and fellow heirs with Christ." (Romans 8:16-17)
I sometimes fear that misconceptions about adoption can lead to misconceptions about salvation. Some of these include - that you can't possibly bond as closely with an adopted child as with an biological child; or that the love of an adoptive parent could never be as strong as the biological parent; or that blood is thicker than water. I am sure that Rob and I had many of these errant thoughts before we adopted, as well. What a blessing it has been to get a more vivid picture of God's great love toward us! With each additional adoption, it seems that God has enlightened us to new and distinct truths about Himself.
On numerous occasions I have caught myself looking at one of my boys and just basking in the thought that God used me to rescue them from a bad situation and change the course of their life for good. On top of the lessons they have taught me about salvation, you cannot begin to imagine the joy that has come from being a direct tool for God in their lives. "For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work, at the works of your hands I sing for joy." (Psalm 92:4)
Over the years, God has moved our hearts from a place that merely desires more children to a place that truly desires to be used by Him. In all honesty, we thought our family was complete after Rhys was born. It wasn't until God worked miraculously in providing the necessary funds for a third adoption that we even considered traveling that road again. At that point, we had to make a real decision as to where we wanted our treasure to lie. All throughout Scripture we read that God has a special place in His heart for orphans and widows. We want to love what He loves. Beyond that, we have been reminded over the years that God desires to see our faith in action. James 1:27 reminds us that "religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." Upon further study, you will realize that "visit" means to play an active role in the life of the helpless. While God may not call everyone to adopt, He most definitely wants us all to actively minister to the helpless.
I really do not mean for adoption to be my "soap box" issue in life. God works differently in the life of each believer. Rob and I simply desire to testify to the truths that God has taught us along our journey. We are eternally grateful for the 5 children that God has now allowed us to adopt and cannot wait to see how God will work in their lives throughout the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment