November is National Adoption Month. The month has almost come and gone, but I can’t let it slip by without highlighting the beauty and picture of the gospel (Galatians 4:4-8, Romans 8:14-17) that is found in adoption.
Over the past year we have gone from a family of three to a family of four… through adoption. Why adoption? Even before meeting Michael Luke, I had a heart for adoption. I shared this desire with him EARLY in our relationship. Let’s just say it was sort of like a non-negotiable for me. Thankfully, this desire that God had given me to grow our family through adoption was something that God was also growing in his heart.
After tying the knot and spending several years as newlyweds, we began to think about children. Biological or adoption first? That was the question. You see, during the years as newlyweds, God had placed several friends in our lives that had been blessed with children biologically. As scary as labor and pregnancy seemed to me, I found myself also wanting to experience it… at least once.
So we spent much time talking and praying about it and decided that since we knew absolutely nothing about babies or children maybe we should start from scratch. So biological it was! We figured we would give a try, and if it didn’t work, we would go ahead and start the adoption process. I was ready to adopt as much as I was ready to have a biological child. A few months after trying to conceive, God blessed me with joy of pregnancy. Little Noah was on the way!
Noah was four months old when we first began the adoption process. If you’ve had a newborn, you understand that at this point you probably weren’t ready to start thinking about another child just yet. Adoption is somewhat of a lengthy process though, and being on the backside of it, four months after giving birth is a wonderful time to begin the adoption process.
Adoption for us is not the result of fertility struggles. Adoption for us is the result of a dream! When talking about adoption, I love to tell people that adoption is filled with all the excitement of pregnancy. For instance, we found out that because Noah would be sharing a room with her new sibling, our next child would have to be a girl. It was just as exciting to us as when our ultrasound revealed that we were expecting a girl. The excitement of the morning that we met Esther was just as exciting as the night we went to the hospital to deliver Noah. There are so many parallels, and each one is special to me.
God may not call everyone to adopt but God does say,
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world”. – James 1:27
Adoption is beautiful! Just as Christians have been adopted by God and are co-heirs with Christ, Esther has been adopted. Esther’s future was forever changed February 12 when she left Mother’s Choice for the last time… with us!
Please, pray and seek God as to how he wants to use you to care for orphans. Does it mean adopting a child? Supporting an adoption agency or orphanage? Helping a family raise money to bring their child home? Or serving as a foster parent? There are multiple ways that God may choose to use you, and none are lesser than the other. How will He use you?
Finally, a couple of months ago, Mother’s Choice contacted us through Lifeline Children’s Services, our adoption agency, asking for our permission to use Esther’ story to advocate for adoption and to raise support for their ministry through Wee Care, the orphanage where Esther lived. We didn’t have to think twice.
Esther is named after Queen Esther of the Bible, whose name means “Star”. Of course, our “star” should help advocate for adoption! I can’t wait to see the other plans God has in store for her! Below is the video and story of our little girl, “Princess Esther”! So far I haven’t been able to watch it without crying but I keep watching it over and over again. It’s beautiful!
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