God is doing some great things in the hearts of people at our church. Folks are growing in their desire to live holy lives. Young moms are wanting to be good and godly moms. Husbands are desiring to be good and godly husbands. Young fathers are seeking to be good dads who honor the Lord and raise their family in a godly way. And while these and many other things are happening, God also seems to be stirring in many of us a deeper love for children.
Now we realize that adoption is not for everyone, but we sure are encouraged by the heart for adoption and for children that God seems to be growing among us. Right now, there are several families in our church who are somewhere in the process of adoption!
Several folks have asked us why we’re adopting. There are so many underlying truths compelling us, but here are a few of the realities which are driving us in this journey.
1. We are not sure that there is a better earthly picture of the gospel than adoption. God has loved us with a love that does not quit. He did not have to love us, but he did. God set his loving affection on us—for no reason of our own—and made us his. The Bible says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:15-17).
Our soon-coming son has done nothing and will do nothing to deserve the love that we are showing him. But we do have love to share, and we can think of no better way to love both him and our current children than to model God’s love in this way.
2. Adopting our son will ensure that he hears the gospel. Now, adopting our son will also ensure a lot of other things. It will certainly ensure a “better life” for him. It will ensure that Jack, William, and Isaac has a baby brother. It will ensure that there is a little more pandemonium in the Brady house. It will ensure yet another grandson for Grandmamma and Grandad to love.
However, the greatest assurance that exists for a child growing up in our home will be the guarantee that he will in fact hear the gospel. There is no greater message which needs to be heard. Kids need a lot of things. They need dads and moms. They need love and security. They need hope and education. But most of all, they need to hear the gospel. The Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
Benjamin will one day join us on the bed as we get together each night to read, sing, and pray. We look forward to telling him the stories of the Bible—and helping him to know the story of the Bible. We can’t wait to sing with him, and we’re looking forward to us all praying together.
Who knows what he would experience if he were not our son? I can only imagine. He is only one person. One person is only one person, but adopting this one person will ensure that this one person hears the gospel. We are already praying that God would save our son—this one person.
3. We are caring for an orphan and providing him with a good and godly home. We have seen enough videos on You Tube to realize that life is not that great in Ethiopia. Life expectancy for a male in Ethiopia is 52 years, there are .03 physicians for every 1000 people, and the probability of reaching the age of 40 stands at 43.6%—just to list a few statistics. While we would never fully know what his life would be like otherwise, we are compelled by a desire to give him a better life.
4. God’s love is an indiscriminate love—and our love should be, too. Needless to say, our 4th son is going to look a lot different than everyone else in the family. His hair will be curly and his skin will be darker—much darker. However, there will be no difference between Brady boy #1, #2, and #3 and Brady boy #4. We will love him no less, and we will treat him no differently. He will be just as much a Brady as any of the other Bradys, and we can’t wait to love on him just like we do the sons who currently live in our house. In the same vein in which Paul said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” (Galatians 3:28) we will also say that in our house, there is neither American nor foreign, there is neither adopted nor biological, there is neither black nor white, for we are all one in the Brady family.
5. We desire to be obedient to the Great Commission. Jesus said. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Hoy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). So often, we think of obedience to the Great Commission as involving our travelling across the street or across the city or across the country or across the ocean to tell someone about Jesus. However, the Great Commission should begin right here at home. Our own children are the first objects of our pursuit of the Great Commission. Before we make disciples of other nations, let us begin with ourselves. We are looking forward to making disciples of all our sons. We are looking forward to teaching all our sons those things which have been commanded to us. For us, adoption is just one other means of being obedient to the Great Commission.
We can hear it now. In a few years, we look forward to our children singing—“that’s the way we all became the Brady Bunch!"
My brother is a Native American from Canada (we called him an American Indian back in the 70's) adopted by my family in 1972. Growing up, friends would say, "Your brother doesn't look anything like you." I would explain, "That's because he's an Indian." They would look at me quizzically and say, "But you don't look like an Indian." That always made me laugh: they just couldn't figure out that I was implying he was adopted. I would have to clearly explain it. Then my first child was born with very dark hair, dark skin, and brown eyes -- unlike anyone in our family. I called my brother up and shouted, "Rod, he takes after you! You're the only one he looks like!"
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy the diversity as much as we did.
Kelly Walden