Adoption

I think today I will take a break in the family updates and fill my blog readers in on a few musings that have been rumbling around in my mind. If you've followed Levi's story at all, you know that I shared about a young teen I met at the hospital who was waiting to be placed in foster care with her 7 month old baby. My brief encounter with her broke my heart. She isn't alone.

I remember sitting in the NICU holding Levi and sitting beside him for what seemed like hours at a time. When the tide of activity and flow of doctors, residents, and nurses would subside, I would often sit back holding my three pound baby and observe. In Levi's cul-de-sac there was room for about eight to ten babies. Some were in and out, and a few were there when we got there and remained there when we left. Of the babies in Levi's section, there were only a few moms who came to visit every day, and only two others who came everyday for a solid chunk of time. I know every family's situation is different and many moms and dads have jobs that do not allow them to sit for hours at a time beside their baby's bed. But I also know that there are babies sitting in the hospital waiting for a home to call their own. One nurse in Levi's area told me that her son was a NICU baby...she ended up adopting him and taking him home...and she shared that for many NICU babies, they do not leave the hustle and bustle of the NICU and go to a permanent home.

If these stories don't tug at your heart, I'm not sure what will. Brian and I have talked at length in the last few months about families who adopt, or families who choose to be foster parents. Brian and I are convinced that God's design...God's basic unit for evangelism is the family.

In Psalm 145, the writer says, "Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever...One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness." My generation...me...I will commend God's works to the next generation...my children. His deeds, his works, his greatness, and abundant goodness are to be on our lips to make God known to our children. Then, in Deuteronomy 6, God commands the people of Israel to "teach them [words of God] diligently to your children, and talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." See, we don't have to go far to make the gospel known. Our own home is the first place God is declared to our children.

Brian and I began discussing this in the context of adoption. What better way to take a lost soul ad proclaim the gospel than to bring a lost soul into the arms of a loving family who makes Jesus the Lord of their life? A soul that may otherwise never hear the Good News.

Now, I know that not everyone is called to adopt. Not everyone can, not everyone wants to, and not everyone needs to. So this is where this whole conversation has led me...what am I doing with my own children? If I truly believe this is true in adoption, then why would it not be true in my own biological children? My children are lost souls. They are sinners, and in all honesty their eternal state is heading toward separation from God. So what am I doing about that? Am I just making sure they are in church on Sundays? Do I talk like a Christian, but not act like one? Do I expect them to just "get it" on their own? Oh friends, this hit me hard! I'm not saying I need to bombard them day in and day out with guilty manipulation...I am saying that my parenting needs to guide them to the infinite beauty of Christ. Do they understand that their behavior isn't just breaking a rule, but it's sin? Do I make it clear in discipline that I'm not just disciplining because they didn't do what mommy said but I'm truly teaching them obedience to a holy and just God? Do I shower them with love and forgiveness? And do I...yes, do I live a life that makes Christ infinitely beautiful...worth sacrificing the best this world has to offer for the best Christ will give? Yikes...if this doesn't change my purpose in parenting, I'm not sure what will.

There are times I wonder what in the world I'm doing...and this truth has given me a renewed vision and purpose in mommyhood. It's nice when Culley (and hopefully someday Levi) says thank you and uses manners...and embarrassing when she doesn't...but at the end of the day, or rather at the end of my life I need to ask what it is that I've guided them to in Jesus. Have I lived, taught, and reflected the gospel message? It's theirs to accept or reject, but my job remains the same regardless of my children's responses.

Adopted or biological...the family is evangelistic in nature. So for you moms out there...keep at it...and may Christ, who is infinitely greater than anything this life has to offer, be glorified in your mommyhood and your children.

Blessings!