“…having predestined us to adoption as his sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will…” Ephesians 2:5
Infertility is not something I experienced. However, my younger sister, Brenna, suffered through the agony of becoming pregnant and then losing the babies as something occurred that prevented her from keeping those lives. After feeling that their rigorous efforts were exhausted, and affirming peace with the Lord that this was not the avenue God intended to bring them a child, Brenna and her husband, Jeff, prayed seriously toward adoption. Strangely, as they both talked through adopting, they each sensed the lead of Lord to adopt an older child, like maybe a two-year-old or even a three-year-old. In obedience to God, they moved forward in the adoption process.
Simultaneous to God’s preparation in Jeff and Brenna’s hearts, Jeff’s mother, a nurse, shared at her job about their desire to adopt. She had no knowledge of how the story would unfold from this point. One afternoon, as Brenna visited with her mother-in-law, her mother-in-law explained that her co-worker, with a young daughter who birthed two sons, approached her and shared about her grandson’s need to be adopted. Through a life that did not glorify the Lord, along with failed attempts of change, the mother had lost her children. The grandparents, divorced, each took one of the boys. The nurse-grandmother agreed to raise the youngest boy. The grandfather cared for the older son. However, this oldest boy, the age of five, would be placed as a ward of the state, an orphan.
But why did the grandfather allow his grandson to be adopted, and why didn’t the grandmother rear both boys? My sister’s story is longer than this blog post, as there are amazing facets to the layers of the sovereign plan of God for this young child. Jeff and Brenna completed their MAPP training for adoption and fostered this boy. Today, the boy, Daniel, placed within the system of North Carolina, is the son of Jeff and Brenna. Daniel , my nephew, is twelve years old.
At the time of his foster care by Brenna and Jeff, and then his subsequent adoption, Daniel had no knowledge that parents were “out there” loving him already and longing for him to come home, where he belongs. Jeff and Brenna labored through the system and prayed and trusted and waited on God. Daniel continued to be a boy. Daniel received the free gift of their love and understands today God’s perfect plan for His life. He knows he is home, and he knows that Daddy and Mommy love him and he belongs to them. He fully comprehends that no one will take him away from this safe haven of a loving family.
Don’t you love the stories of adoption? There are as many unique and beautiful stories of adoption as there are adopted children. Our God is a mighty God and the true tales that He writes always amaze us. Like Daniel, He labors to draw you to Himself. When He “found” me, I had no knowledge that any One was calling me. “I once was lost, and now I am found.” He loved me already. Before the foundation of time, He knew me. He is my Creator. He planned for me to become His, to be adopted into His family, the family of God, eternally secure with a place reserved in Heaven…for me!!! He is my Father. He held His arms open to me, rejoicing in that day that I finally received the free gift of adoption through His Son, Jesus Christ. He made it so easy for me to join the family, His family. Jesus paved the way. I know I belong in this family. I know my Father loves me.
My nephew, Daniel, now receives the fullness of the blessings of being a part of his family. Not only has he been adopted by Jeff and Brenna, but He received the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. He is redeemed from sin, cleansed and forgiven. Daniel is assured that he will live forever with Jesus, and with his earthly father and his earthly mother, who partook of the gift, too. Their family celebrates the adoption of Daniel every year, termed Gotcha Day!
Our great and mighty God lavishes His love upon Daniel, once orphaned, as he celebrates the date of his birth, the date of his adoption into his loving family, and the date of his adoption into God’s family. As for the rest of us, the extended family rejoices in that Gotcha Day for Daniel!!! More than that, though, we rejoice that in Christ, Daniel has a Gotcha Day. In Christ, I have a Gotcha Day. In Christ, do YOU have Gotcha Day? If so, rejoice and share Him with others so they may join the family of God. If not, you are invited to become His, to be adopted by the Living God, the Creator of all things, your Father. Won’t you celebrate your Gotcha Day today?
Aunt Brooke loves you, Daniel!!!
Hello! I'm Brooke.
