More Thoughts on the Adopting for Life Conference

Delia and I were blessed to get to attend the Adopting for Life conference at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  The speakers were awesome, and the music was phenomenal.  The songs, the sermons, the talks, and the testimonies were so Christ-focused and gospel centered that it left a profound mark on my mind.  I am struggling to put it into words, I feel so emotionally drained (in a good way).

The conference centered around the issue of adoption and its connection to the gospel.  As we care for orphans, we are fulfilling the Great Commission.  More than that, we are imitating the gospel.  When a family adopts it takes someone who was a foreigner biologically and makes them family.  In the same way, through adoption, God brings those who were foreigners to the promises, and makes them his children.

Adoption is a part of God's plan for making families, and we get to take part in that.  We are walking in our Father's footsteps when we care for orphans.  Delia and I have been considering another adoption in the near future, and have been working toward that.  What I heard during this conference confirmed these desires.  We are all called to care for the orphan, if we are really of the faith, although not every one is called to adopt.

I feel tremendously blessed to have been used of the Lord to adopt.  Both of my girls, (Ellie, who has gone on to be with the Lord, and Sophia), were brought into my life through the gift of adoption.  In eternity, before I was formed and brought forth into this world, God had set me apart for this entrance into fatherhood.  The very thought of this makes my mind want to explode.  My heart is bursting with joy and gratitude and fear.  And to think that somewhere out there, around the corner of providence, God may have more children waiting to call me daddy.  It's too much to comprehend. 

If they post the audio from the conference, I'll post a link.  The messages are worth listening to.  Let me close by encouraging you to consider your role in ministry of orphan care.  Are you being called to adopt a child?  Are you being called to assist someone who is adopting?  Seize the opportunity, and respond in heartfelt obedience.  You'll be changing someone's life (or many lives) forever.