Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Adoption as sons (and daughters!)

My cousin and her husband are adopting 4 little kids from Haiti. When they visited the first time, it was just going to be one little girl, but during their stay, they met a little boy, and after much prayer, they decided to adopt the boy, along with his brother and sister.

They recently returned from their second trip to meet the children and bond as a family, but since the adoption paperwork is not complete, they could not take the children home with them.

My cousin wrote about the sad parting this way:

"Our last night with the children, we had someone translate for us to help them to fully understand what was going on. We had to explain to our kids that we had to leave in the morning but that we would be back and that one day they would be coming home with us to live with us forever. We tried to explain that we are their momma and papa forever now."

When I read this, I realized that God the Father feels the exact same way about us. Because we are still children and don't entirely speak God's language, it can be extremely difficult for us to understand why we must endure without our Heavenly Father being physically present with us. Our hearts long to be united as a family with him and to never again be parted from his righteousness and peace. As Christians, we must rest in the promise that we are His children in name, and one day we will be able to come home and live with our Father forever.

"...we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." Romans 8:23

2 comments:

emily said...

Oh, this story brings me chills. Your cousin and her husband are amazing people to do this for FOUR children. I have always wanted to adopt a child from another country...and oh what a beautiful life they will have here that they would never have had the opportunity for in Haiti. Blessings to your cousin and her husband! They will have their hands full! ;) Emily

emily said...

P.S. Yes, we are God's children and when we are in pain somehow we have to try to envision him holding us in the palm of his hand...but it can be very, very hard.