Different?!?!

Jesus…Different….

Adoption…Different…

Why?

One of my favorite verses on adoption comes from Romans 8 verses 14-17 which say…

¹⁴For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" ¹⁶The spirit HImself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

   Adoption is different but not for the reasons we commonly associate with it.  Yes, it is different in that we as couple didn’t "create" a tiny person with some of our genetic sequencing. Yes, it is different because we miss out on "X" number of years in our childs life.  But in all honesty, what is it but pride to think we actually "create" anything.  I am reminded of the story of the great inventor who said God was outdated and was no longer relevant and that we had the capability to create a smarter, more advanced "AI" (Artificial Intelligence).  He was upset with how God had messed up in creating us, so he challenged God and bragged that he could create humans better than him, so the conversation goes.

God: Well okay then, lets go.
                        
Inventor: OK
                        
God: Let’s see what you got for me.
                        
(Months pass, God waits)
                        
(Inventor is almost finished)
                        
(They meet to explain what they’ve created)
                        
God: Well, I took some dirt this morning clumped it together in my hand and breathed life into it and Adam was formed.
Inventor: Well, I too took some dirt and began to heat it and melt it down….
                        
God: Wait, wait, wait,
                        Inventor:  What?!?
                        God:  Go get your own dirt!

   We don’t own exclusive rights to anything, we are stewards of what the Lord has given us, the bodies we are blessed with, the children we are blessed with, the wealth we may be blessed with, the creation all around us.   None of it exclusively belongs to us.  We only "create" things with the tools and methods God has given or revealed to us.

   I can’t tell you or explain the looks of awe and wonder that we get when people find out we have adopted 3 children.  It’s kind of like we are from outerspace, to us we feel rather normal.  Normal has been redefined in our lives.  I’m sure after a couple years, when our kids our speaking fluent english, when they behave like angels, and when our kids are 45yrs old we will begin to look normal to other families.

   And that brings me to my first thought.  Adoption is different, I think it is different because of this one verse, verse 17, that people resonate with the most when they look at us in awe and are confused why we would choose to mess up our good lives with having this many kids at once. It is because when you adopt a child, you identify with someone that is not genetically "you" and you give them birthrights, they inherit your name, your money, your family, and likewise, as parents we inherit their hurts, their joys, their pain, their attitudes, their neediness.  Just like God.  Isn’t adoption wonderful.