These guys are very helpful in the adoption process. There were several adoption agencys present at the workshop, as well as foundations that provide support.
A couple of really good insights that I picked up while there:
- current stats: there are 143 million orphans in the world today
- reason why adoption is near to the heart of God #1: sacrifice. Much of the process is about sacrifice: time, energy, money, etc. All child-raising involves sacrifice (natural & adoptive), but the process of adoption provides more of a crunch in my opinion. God likes sacrifice because it gets us off of ourselves for a second.
- reason why adoption is near to the heart of God #2: slow to love. There is a possibility that somewhere along the journey, sooner or later, this child may be slow to reciprocate the love we give. It may be when he realizes he looks different and feels like he doesn't fit in. Or it may be when he gets picked on and feels isolated. His response may be to withdraw from our affection. God also likes this, because it give us a taste of what He experiences all the time. It makes me think of Hosea a little bit.
Anyway, this is quickly turning into something much bigger than ourselves and what we're going through. We are feeling lead to create/initiate an Orphan Ministry within our church. We're not sure what this will look like yet, but we hope to meet with some other families the week after thanksgiving to talk/pray about where it could go. There just so happens to be several newer families in our church right now that have either gone through, or are considering adoption.
No comments:
Post a Comment