You Might As Well Know

Part 2 of Why We Adopted

You might as well know that we didn’t adopt just because we love children. We do love children! But, that is not the reason we adopted. 

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'  Matthew 25:40

You might as well know that we didn’t adopt because of some deep longing to have a large family. I did, as a child, always imagine myself with a car load of youngins. Paul didn’t imagine anything, he just sort of let it happen and finds himself happy about it now! But, that isn’t the reason we adopted.

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."  Matthew 12:29-30

We didn’t adopt because of a desire to fancy ourselves as nurses all of sudden or to become versed in medical and psychological jargon. And, we definitely didn’t do it because we wanted to get in the deed-to-end-all-deeds that would “get us a place in Heaven.” Yes, someone has actually said to us that we have secured our spot now. That statement saddened me more than you  can know. I don’t believe that my spot in heaven is secured by my deeds, but by the Blood of Jesus.  Our deeds are proof of our faith and love for God. 
 
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. James 2:14-18

We also didn’t adopt to get pats on the back or recognition of any kind whatsoever. Really.

“ Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22

So why did we adopt ?

Quite frankly, we did it to please God. God pleads for orphans and it often falls on deaf ears. We try desperately to use The Word as our compass and there are nearly 100 passages in the Bible dealing with our responsibility to the orphan!

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” James 1:27

When the day comes to kneel before our Lord and Savior, I don't want to have to explain why I didn't do something.   Even though I am just now getting around to saying this "out loud", I hope you have known our hearts for orphans for a while.  I hope it has shown here on this blog.  But, I wanted to make sure it's loud and clear.  LOUD and CLEAR. 

But, I'm not eloquent like some other bloggers I know.  Linny over at A Place Called Simplicity summed up everything I feel and then some in one of her blog posts back in January.

Please click here to read it.  It will take you straight to this wonderful post