Adoption

I am thankful:

~ for our beautiful Samantha, who received an award at Chapel for the Character Quality of Honesty. She is bright and beautiful and smart and so grown up for her age. So very proud of her. 

~ for discovering the most amazing donut shop!  There were about 1 million choices, but Tatum settled in on a frosted doughnut rolled in Froot Loops while I dove into a maple glazed donut smothered with bacon.  LIFECHANGING!

~ for amazingly fast shipping. I’ve been looking for a fuzzy fleece pullover for one of the kids, but the store didn’t have the size we needed. So I placed the order online. I couldn’t believe it when it arrived at my door the next morning! How do they do that???

~ for a truly terrific chewy, ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie recipe. 

~ for a quick midweek visit with Gina Sue. We did our best to catch up on each other‘s news, and she treated me to delicious comfort Starbucks coffee and friendship bread.  Love our time together. 

~ for new friends and for the most delicious baby snuggles. 

~ for the nervous excitement of 2 Giddyup & Whoa sales this week.  The Vintage & Co “Christmas in the Country” sale is Wednesday through Saturday, and The Market at Harvey Hall is Saturday.  I’ve been painting, wood burning, tagging, and photographing NONSTOP (usually with Bear at my feet and Tatum K hanging on my back).  So thankful for the opportunity to do what I love to do, and hope that the Lord continues to bless our efforts.  

~ for TRUTH.  I’m thankful that I know that I know that I KNOW the promises in Scripture.  The promise that God will never leave me nor forsake me.  The promise that this world is not my home.  The promise that He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it.  Because my flesh fails me.  My eyes look around and see chaos and storms and I take my eyes off Jesus and start to sink into the sea of fear.  Anxiety has been raging this week.  Like always, the assaults come out of nowhere, without warning or cause.  But no matter how paralyzed I FEEL, I KNOW THE TRUTH.  I know that Jesus see me, that He is right there with me, and that everything is going to be ok.  I speak His Name. And even though it’s not magic, and it doesn’t instantly squash an anxiety attack, I believe in the POWER in the Name of Jesus.  I know He is more real than anything I feel and anything I fear.  HALLELUJAH. 

And this week I am freshly thankful for adoption.   November is Adoption Month, and this Sunday our church had a special service honoring the MANY families in our Body who are adult adoptees, foster and adoptive parents, and their support systems, as well as sharing information about the foster care crisis in our nation.  It was so emotional to hear from adults reliving their experiences: being adopted and raised by a loving family from infancy, or the pain of being removed from biological parents and placed in foster care.  We saw a family dedicate their newly adopted son, alongside their MASSIVE extended family, which included biological kids, siblings, adopted siblings, grandparents, more adoptees…it. was. AWESOME.  Beautiful.  God-breathed.  I’m so thankful to be a part of a church that actively believes in and has chosen to cultivate a culture of adoption.  Not everyone is called to adopt, but we are all called to lay our lives down for one another.   And that might mean taking a meal to a foster family, or providing respite care.  Something as simple as texting a word of encouragement or as practical as calling in pizzas could be just the glimmer of hope a very tired mom or dad desperately needs. 

I’ve always been drawn to adoption.  Many times in my youth, I found myself welcomed into other families.  I was always on the fringe, a little lonely, a little lost, and God braided people into my life at just the right times.  And that is exactly what God does for us when we become a part of His family.  He takes the lost and the lonely, and He gives us a new name, a new identity, a place to belong.   And we become sons and daughters. Heirs.  I think it was really good for my children to see how many other adoptees were around them today, of all ages.  I think (I hope) it made them feel extra special to be recognized.  Adoption is always complicated, because it always involves loss.  But we love because God loved us first, and I truly believe that when we keep Christ in His proper place: at the head and at the center, adoption can bring the unexpected beauty from the most broken of places.  We still have lots of broken places in our family, lots of healing still being worked out.  But God.  And no matter what my eyes see, I believe that His plan is good.  He is working on the hearts of each of my children, and on mine.  I am thankful that I am the most blessed mama in the whole wide world.  Remind me that Lord, when so many times I forget. 

Try to love on a foster or adoptive family this week.  They need it. 

Thanks for giving thanks with me. 

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”  (John 14:18)

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “ Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Romans 8:14-17)

“But when the set time had fully 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)