Faith | ‘Can you tell us about adoption?’ A question he wouldn’t ignore

I am an extremely proud father of two adopted awesome daughters, now grown. I couldn’t be happier that God gave my wife and me the privilege to be their parents, although I’ve always seen them as God’s children first and foremost.

Both are a gift from God and the birth mother.

A birth mother will never forget the child she gave up for adoption. The Bible even shares the story of Moses whose birth mother gave him up in order to save his life.

In our case with our first adopted child, we were told the birth father didn’t want children, and the birth mother didn’t think she could care for the baby on her own.

I asked the adoption coordinator if money was the underlying issue for the birth mother’s decision. We truly wanted what was best for the baby, and my wife and I were willing to give our adoption money directly to the birth mother if it would make a difference.

The adoption coordinator knew of other concerns, and the birth mother genuinely wanted us to adopt her baby. Through God’s will and benevolence, we took our little bundle of joy home just 12 days before Christmas, a truly wonderful gift.

We had always considered adopting another baby, and knew through the adoption process that we would need to be on a waiting list for several years. To our surprise, a year-and-a-half after our first adoption, we got an amazing phone call from the adoption agency informing us of another baby.

Unbelievably, this baby was from the same mother of our first child!

The agency gave first rights to families with siblings, plus the birth mother requested us again and asked if we wanted another baby girl. We absolutely said yes.

Just like that, we had two girls under the age of two.

My wife and I were overjoyed, very busy, and extremely happy. I was totally content to come home from a long day at work to hold my two precious daughters.

I have so many fond memories with them that will last an eternity. One of my favorites is the Christmas when our girls were about three and 4-years-old and had received soft, squishy dolls. I still have a picture in my mind of how much they both smiled and hugged those dolls.

The nighttime routine at our house was somewhat typical, yet with a unique twist. After bedtime prayers, one more sip of water, and when the girls were really not quite ready to sleep, there was one question that would undoubtedly come up.

Our daughters knew their parents couldn’t—and wouldn’t—ignore, “Can you tell us about adoption?”

Adoption, in its purest sense, is a unique and marvelous process that involves the extremes of heartache and loss to the exhilaration of love unbounded.

The ultimate adoption story is unfolded in the pages of God’s Word, the Bible. We see the devastation of man’s fallen state and the heartbreaking ugliness that sin has brought into this world resulting in the need for a solution, a Savior.

This is where the most beautiful adoption story unfolds.

Jesus, who was both God and man, lived a perfect and sinless life. He voluntarily took the place of sinful man, was unjustly crucified and died in our place for the sins of the world. He willingly took the punishment we deserve and rose from the dead three days later. This allows us the opportunity to accept his sacrifice on our behalf by believing in him as our savior and by doing so, we are adopted into his family.

God’s desire is for each of us to be adopted into his family and live with him forever.

My greatest joy is knowing that both of my daughters have been adopted twice—once into our family, and greater yet, into God’s family forever.