Last November, I was asked to speak at a Moms’ group in my city on the topic of “adoption.” This was very appropriate, because the month of November is Adoption Awareness Month. We didn’t plan for my talk and Adoption Awareness Month to coincide, but I know God planned it that way 😉 It was a privilege and honor for me to share my heart for adoption with my peers and friends.

Ryan and I are approached quite often about the topic of adoption. We have what one of our fellow-adoptive-family-friends calls a “conspicuous family.” People notice us. We look different than the average family. And it’s pretty obvious that we are raising at least one child that was not born of our flesh. But sometimes my thoughts can be jumbled.

So, when I was asked to speak at the Moms’ group, it was really nice for me to have the opportunity to sit down and mull over some of my thoughts on adoption. I’ve taken some of what I said and re-formatted it for a blog post, because I thought it might be encouraging or helpful to some of you who may not have been there that day. However, my little “talk” was longer than a typical blog post would be, and I have had to split it up for this platform. I don’t want any of you to fall asleep on me! So this will be in three parts. It will be my very own mini-series that I plan to start and finish this week.

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So, I assume that most of you who are reading this know me in “real life.” But because this is my blog and I can do what I want, and I love my family, I’m going to talk about them for a minute. So there are five of us. My husband Ryan,   me, and our three children. Our son is our biological child. If you know us, this is not a surprise because he looks just like a mini-Ryan. He was born in 2009. We have two daughters, both of whom we adopted. Our middle little (born in 2013), came to us at the age of 3 months as a foster child. We adopted her in 2015 just two weeks after her second birthday. Our youngest was born in 2016. We adopted her at birth through a domestic infant agency adoption. So we have three very different children with three very different stories. All three are wonderful, beautiful miracles, and we love to talk about them because they are awesome.

We are an adoptive family. And I love talking about adoption because I live in that sphere daily. But why does that matter to you? What’s the big deal about adoption? Why have a blog centered around it and the families it touches? Why have a month devoted to its awareness? Why do I love to talk about adoption and advocate for adoptive families? Why does adoption matter to me?? And why should it matter to you??

The world’s perspective of adoption, and what I thought at first glance, is that it is a special or unique way to build a family. Those who are unable to naturally conceive a child can grow their family through adoption! This is of course true. But it’s only part of the story. I think many people have the wrong perspective about adoption. Adoption is so much more than a way for people to become parents.

Adoption matters, and should matter, to all of us, because adoption matters to God.

We know that adoption matters to God because God, in His word, speaks to us about adoption. He is the loving heavenly Father who has adopted His children unto Himself! This is a foundational theological truth.

I’ll do my best to unpack just a little of what the Bible says about God and adoption in part two of this post. I look forward to “seeing” you here again soon, later this week!