"Adoption is a response to a life crisis."

I am completely behind on blogging and posting pictures of my kids. That will come...eventually. But there's something I've been thinking about...

With our adoption process we have required education classes that we have to take. During one of the classes this was said by the teacher. "Adoption is a response to a life crisis." At first I thought, Wow, that's a bold statement. Most people don't think about adoption this way. Most of the people we've come in contact with think of adoption as this wonderful, nice, selfless thing we are doing and how "good" we are for doing it. Most people think how "lucky" our kids are to finally be having a family. The truth is, adoption really is a response to a life crisis. Think about how an orphan becomes an orphan and then the statement makes a lot more sense. Orphans are children with birth parents who have died, abandoned them, couldn't afford to care for them, or have realized they aren't fit to be parents. This creates a life crisis for the child. Then comes the response to that life crisis: adoption.

The truth is, adopted children are not lucky. The reality is that there was brokenness in their parents resulting in them being orphaned and they will forever carry that burden. Yes, adoption is a beautiful thing, but not because we are so "good" to be doing it. It's beautiful because it's God's idea.  I look at the pictures of our beautiful brown babies and I think about how blessed WE are. Our whole family has yet another chance to see God's grace played out. Not just through His care and concern for orphans, but the gift they will also be to our family. We get Christmas cards with pictures of colorful families and knowing their stories, I tear up and praise God for getting to witness His grace in those families as well.

"Adoption is a response to a life crisis." You see, with Christmas in mind, this statement has a double meaning for those of us that have been adopted by God. God saw that there was a life crisis going on in the hearts of people. The life crisis was a result of our sin. And so He created adoption. It was HIS idea. His adoption journey also began with a baby, but this baby was sent to save the world. We aren't "rescuing" these children. Non of us even deserve to be rescued,  God has rescued us through His gift of Jesus who suffered in our place.

So why does it bother me when people tell us how "good of us" to be adopting? Because I know that adoption was God's idea. My statement would be, "Our adoption journey is a response to God's adoption journey. "Adoption was not my idea that is for sure. Even now I often wonder what the heck God is doing with us. I know how dark my own heart can be and my family is desperately flawed because of our sin. I wonder how I'm gonna be a good momma with FIVE kids when I'm daily failing with three kids. All I can do is depend on the author of adoption, the creator of all my children to supply the love I will need for each one of them.

Instead of people telling me how wonderful we are for adopting, I hope they will remind me to be a servant to my kids just as Christ has been to me. On days when I'm discouraged and exhausted and questioning God, I hope they will remind me how beautiful and perfect God's ideas are and how He will supply the needs I have in order to obey Him in my mothering.

Adoption is God's plan in response to the life crisis in human hearts. We desperately NEED Him.