1. God will plant seeds in your heart that may not grow until years later. - That's the way it was for me and my decision to make adoption part of our family's story. I tried to think back to when it was first planted in my heart that adoption could be part of my life and all I can think back to is being around foster children in high school. Several of them were my friends and I listened to them express their hurt over the fact that they felt as though they had no family. Some of them bounced from house to house, but a few made their way to a godly foster home with other foster children. Most of them "aged out" of foster care and were never adopted. I remember thinking to myself, "Why won't anyone take my friends in and make them a part of their family?" That had to be where it started and since then God has done things in my life to water that seed. I wrote about how God moved us to adopt in my blog post, How God Called Us Over Time.
2. A step of faith is a step of faith no matter how many times you take one. - Accepting Jesus as my Savior, asking Sharon to marry me, surrendering to His call for me to be a pastor, making the decision to go to seminary, moving my family to Houston to join God's work at NEHBC, all of these were major steps of faith for me. I don't care how many times you take a major step of faith and place your trust in God to handle a situation that He calls you to, it is still a nerve-wracking decision. A life of faith is simply one step of trust after another in both the small things and the big things, and God always puts greater opportunities in our path to teach us to trust Him more and more. No matter how much you prepare, how much Scripture you memorize, or how much prayer you offer up, you still have to determine in your heart to be obedient to the Lord and trust Him to walk you through unknown territory.
3. Patience is a virtue that only gets stronger the more it is stretched to its limits. - Wait, wait, wait, and wait some more. While you are waiting, you still must wait to wait some more. There are so many players and so many obstacles in the adoption process that I am surprised I haven't cracked yet. I am not a patient man, though I have gotten better over the years. This process by far has been the biggest test and learning opportunity regarding patience that I have ever had. Learning to wait on the Lord has been a blessing because He has shown us things and used this waiting time to impact the lives of others around us. Even when we think nothing is happening, God intervenes and we witness Him perform a work that we never expected. That makes the waiting worthwhile.
4. Gaining a deeper understanding of the theology of adoption has caused me to examine and rethink numerous areas of my life. - When you understand that your very position as a believer before God is that of a child adopted into His family with the same inheritance given to the Son it changes the way you think about life. When you see the lost as orphans you understand more deeply the love God has for them and why He is so passionate about us inviting them into His family through a relationship with Jesus Christ. When you realize that God expresses His love for the orphan and the widow in His Word you learn more about the compassion He has for you and the love we must have for those hurting and suffering in this world. It changes the way you see other nations and peoples because it challenges stereotypes and prejudices you may have hiding in your heart. A deeper understanding of adoption has deepened the passion I have for my family and the role I play as a husband and father. It does the same for me as a pastor because I realize more deeply what God has entrusted to me and I know I am unworthy of such a position.
5. My family will never be the same. - One year into talking and teaching about adoption in our home and we know for sure that our lives have changed. Our priorities have changed. Our allocation of God's resources have changed. As a family, we are learning to sacrifice together in order to accomplish the will of God. We are learning to rely on one another because we are the ones making this journey together. This is a huge blessing.
Tomorrow will be the one year, three weeks, and two days mark according to Sharon's adoption ticker. New lessons will come as we wait for God to open the next door. Somewhere in the future, hopefully this year, the wait will be over and this portion of our journey will end. Who knows how far that ticker will have to count before its no longer needed, but it will be worth the wait. Just wait and see...
