Instant Adoption

Do you know how wonderful it is that our adoption by God is instantaneous?

 

I wish that the adoption laws of men worked like the salvation of God. You see, the adoption process can take what feels like an eternity for adoptive parents. On Aug  22, 2012 God brought a little boy to my husband’s attention. I was in a little bit of a panic when he told me about this eight month old boy in Korea that needed a family. After much prayer, God made it obvious that He was calling us to adopt this little boy.

We spent six months filling out paperwork for various US agencies and having our home study completed. On Feb. 2, 2013 we went to our agency and signed the papers that were going to Korea. Then we waited. Every few months our case worker in Korea would send us health updates and include three pictures. We waited some more. Our file was in Korea, but not moving anywhere. In fact it wasn’t even submitted to the department that deals with adoptions.

Every six months, representatives from our agency visited Korea and they would bring back a video of our son. Those were the most bitter sweet videos to watch. We saw him growing up before our eyes. It was precious to watch him, and hear him giggle, but pure torture too.

It took over a year from the time that we sent our file to Korea to the time that it was submitted to the right governmental department. Then more waiting as we held our breath for two months to find out we’d been approved.

Next our file was submitted to the family court system for review. That took a week. Then another two weeks to be issued a court date for three weeks later. We had to travel to Korea to appear in court and answer any questions that the judge had. Then we waited with baited breath to hear that we had initial approval of the adoption. That was quick to come at a mere six days later. We couldn’t take custody of our son until we had final approval, but once that was issued, eighteen days later, the adoption was final and he was our son. We chose to make travel plans three weeks from the initial approval so that we could take our daughter, who is also adopted from Korea, and spend some time showing her around Seoul. Thankfully, final approval was issued on Oct. 10, 2014 four days before we left for Korea. On the 20th we received the adoption decree and picked up our son, officially adding him to our family.

Why did I tell you all of this? Well, I’m so thankful that our adoption into God’s family is instantaneous. We don’t have to fill out any paper work because we were already bought with a price. (1 Cor. 6:20) We don’t have to wait for months on end, hoping to be approved by God. Our file isn’t sitting somewhere collecting dust until God gets around to it.

Just like we received the adoption decree, God tells us that we have been sealed for the day of redemption. (Eph. 4:30) Our adoption is final the moment we ask for forgiveness. I’m so glad that God doesn’t use red tape.

This is our first family photo, taken in the airport. If we look a little frazzled, I blame jet lag.

Unfortunately, this will be my last blog post, at least for a while. Our adopted son is our fifth child and it's important for me to spend my time bonding with him. I hope to rejoin the blog at some point. I will continue to write and perhaps when I have more time, I'll have plenty of thoughts to share. 

If you want to continue to follow me you can go here: 

My personal blog: (which I won't be posting on much right now either) 

http://bit.ly/kara_blog 

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Doing Family in 336 Hours

Nothing says leaving for college like this
chopping cart. And a tuition bill.

Last week, I posted what I said would be the first in a series of blog posts about the church. Reality, however, had other ideas. The reality is, that require a lot of research, thought, and above all, time. Time which I don't have right now until our last child leaves for college. 

That, if anyone is counting, is in exactly 2 weeks. Fourteen days. 336 hours, which translates to not enough hours to spend with this wonderful young woman before she flies away. 

For the next two weeks, I'll be enjoying my kid. And packing. And occasionally crying. Not where she can see. I won't be doing much researching.



So that series is postponed until September, and today, I want to talk about family. Precisely--why did God give us these creatures we get so attached to, to the point where we believe they are ours? What is family for? It's a question I answered last month, in fact, in an article in Light and Life Communications. Here is the answer I discovered.

When we took our three girls, then ages 6, 10, and 12, to China for a mission trip, we received responses ranging from, “You're so brave,” and “I wish I could do that,” to “You're completely out of your minds.” That last one was more common than is really polite, but I'm kind of used to it twelve years later. By this time, I believe that if people don't think we're out of our minds when we do God's mission as a family, we're doing it wrong.

When God blessed Abraham and gave him the promise of children (Genesis 12.2-3), his reasons went far beyond Abraham and Sarah. “I will bless you...and you will be a blessing....and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” It's a pattern God set at this very foundation of his covenant with his people. I'm giving you this gift—now use it out there where people need it.

The modern western world has remembered mostly the first part.

Normally, we see family as a gift for us. God has blessed us with children, siblings, spouses, or others. People for us to love and live with, to support unconditionally and need deeply. While certainly true, what if that's not the way God's people were originally called to look at their families? What if our first calling is to take our children into the world and see them as blessings for the purpose of God's kingdom?

Maybe it means going on a mission trip with your kids. Maybe it means volunteering more with them at home, with service organizations or simply by helping out a neighbor. (See this link for some good ideas!) It could mean allowing your child to work through tough situations with a classmate or coach, teaching him to extend grace and forgiveness rather than jumping to “defend the tribe.” 

For some, it's meant living in a neighborhood others wouldn't choose because there are people there who need a blessing. Daily, it means keeping eyes open not only to see where others need us but where we can model a life of service for those who watch us.

I sometimes cry when I think of how empty this house is going to be in 336 hours. Three little girls once filled it with screams and skids and crazy cooking experiments gone awry. Art projects and K'Nex roller coasters that engulfed entire rooms. It will not ever sound quite right again. (Though it ought to be much cleaner, on the flip side.)

So we do this. While as can.

What I won't cry are tears of worry. I know why they were given to me. I know they know. I know they are ready, equipped, and excited to take on the world God has given them to bless. They aren't mine. They aren't even their own. They are their Lord's, who wants them to be for others. He is going to use these young women to shake up, and bless, this world.

How does it change our thinking to view our family as a gift for the purpose of blessing the world?

What changes to your schedule, priorities, or attitudes would be needed to make that shift?