Our adoption story
We really believe in adoption, and it has been part of our plan for our family since day one. While this entire blog tells the ongoing story of our adoptions, we want to share the story of how we decided to adopt and why we believe in adoption here.
We were adopted by God
“Adoption” is the term the apostle Paul used to describe the conversion of a Christian – becoming a member of God’s family, with all the privileges and obligations of family.
We were born separated from God – cut off from relationship with Him. Christ died for our sins on the cross, purchased our freedom, and opened the door for our adoption. We are children of God now – fully His – and promised His inheritance.
Our need for family
We have a desire for family. It’s what drove us to get married and create our little family of two. And it’s what’s driving us to expand our family now. We know there is little else we can spend time and energy on in this world that will bring us as much joy and emotional reward as raising children.
So adoption is for us. While we may be “rescuing” our children from a life without the loving bonds of family, the truth is that they are becoming a blessing to us. They will be the joy of our lives – our treasure on this earth. This is not a purely humanitarian effort.
The global orphan crisis
There are over 100 million orphans in the world today. Over 800,000 children pass through the foster care program in America alone. There is no shortage of children in need of families.
Adoption is not the only solution to this crisis. The root causes of AIDS, genocide, warfare, starvation, and drug abuse have to be addressed if we are going to solve this global problem, but adoption is the solution for children without parents today. And we believe that it is the calling of the Christian to address this problem.
God commands Christians to meet the needs of orphans and widows. If God is the father to the fatherless, and we are meant to be His hands and feet here on earth, it is our duty to be part of the solution for orphans.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families… Psalm 68:5-6a
Deciding to adopt
As we examined our own desires to grow our family, we felt like our desire for biological children was mostly a selfish need to see what a baby with our shard DNA would look like. Not that there is anything wrong with that – but we decided that for us, there would be as much joy from adoption as from biological birth. Adoption would not be a sacrifice, but something that brings us ultimate pleasure and satisfaction.
And while we may still have biological children at some point, we want our adopted children to know that they were wanted and desired by us above all else. While they may feel abandonment and loss because their biological parents were not able to raise them, they can know with certainty that they were Plan A for our family – not a substitute for a biological child.
The beauty of adoption
The bonds of family are stronger than blood. The two of us have no blood relation at all, yet our marriage fuses us together in the most intimate relationship of family.
Our children may not share any of our blood, but they will be as close to us as we are to each other. And that’s the beauty of adoption. Each member of our family has a unique heritage and history, yet we have all come together to form a new family, with bonds not of blood, but of love.