Is Adoption Becoming the New Normal?
Every morning, we call the children into our bed and have morning devotions, reading the bible and praying together. And every morning, the little six year old boy that we adopted prays, "Thank you, God, that you heard my prayers and gave me a mom and dad."
After a week or so of this we decided that it would be appropriate to give him the name 'Samuel' - a name which means 'God has heard'. He was delighted with the name and loved that it meant the God had heard his prayers for a mom and dad.
Amazingly enough, when I told a friend of mine, she got an incredulous look on her face. "That's so weird," she said. "I totally dreamt that you would name him Samuel, and I was going to tell you, in case God had given me the dream."
A few days later Rich was having lunch with a couple of preachers and pastors. The subject turned to adoption and a few of them confessed that God was starting to stir their hearts in that direction. One of them asked Rich what the name was of the child we had adopted. Rich answered that his name was 'Ntokozo'. The man asking the question got a sense from God of something different and he said to Rich, "I feel like God has a different name for him. I feel like God's name for him is 'Samuel'. Would you consider changing his name?" It seemed like God was totally in our decision, knew exactly what He wanted to call this boy, and made sure we knew it, too.
You see, God has heard... God has heard the cry of Samuel Ntokozo. But that is just the start. God has heard. He has heard the cry of the orphans and He says, 'It is time to answer.' The day of the orphan has come. The day of adoption has come. For years the seeds have been planted, the idea has slowly brewed and, at last the season for fruit has come. God is calling families to adopt. Many of you reading this can already sense your heart beating faster in your chest because you know. You know that He wants to be the hope of the orphan and you know that He's going to do it through people like you. We have sung that God places the orphans into families. We have preached it. And more and more we're going to live it and see it around us.
Imagine: the next generation, instead of being full of adult orphans without identity, purpose or hope, will be full of the redeemed, the ransomed, the loved, the adopted. It's going to be huge. It's going to be national, international even. It's no longer just going to be the ones and twos, but rather it will become the norm. Adoption is stirring in so many, many hearts. Will you follow the God who makes you brave enough to respond?
