Adoption

I was blessed to be a part of something absolutely amazing today. It was meaningful in so many ways! I have been in Abilene for a little over 2 years now, and today was the first time in about 27 years that I have ever gone back to the place that I was adopted from, Christian Homes of Abilene.

I have talked before about my best friend from college whose family lives in Artesia, and how much I love them and feel blessed to be so close to their family. Well, her sister also adopted a beautiful little girl from Christian Homes of Abilene this year. Yesterday was the finalization for the adoption and I was invited to walk along with them through the process from the courtroom to the reception at Christian Homes to the celebratory dinner afterwards. It was such an incredible blessing to be a part of this special day-because I absolutely love this family and they mean so much to me, and because I was actually able to walk through what my parents walked through with me 27 years ago. What an amazing opportunity!! I think I am still trying to process it all. I feel so much more connected to them now, and I am just in love with that sweet girl. I am so thankful that they invited me to be a part of this special occasion and that after all these years, I am still an active part of their family. I cannot wait to watch that sweet girl grow up in the Lord and be loved by everyone around her-I know that she will be a blessing to so many because she has been placed in such a loving, Christian environment.

It was also a huge blessing to go back to Christian Homes of Abilene and meet the wonderful people that work there. I am SO thankful for those people who bring families like mine, and women who for whatever reason decide that they cannot raise a child...and connect them so that we can be blessed with the awesome opportunities and families we have been given. I am also thankful for people like the woman who made the decision to go to a place like Christian Homes so that I could be afforded a better life and live such an incredibly rich and blessed life. I know that decisions like that are not at all easy, and I am grateful that she was willing to make that sacrifice for me. I have no idea who she is, but I thank God for her and her decision. Of course, I am incredibly thankful for my family and the decision they made to go through the long process of choosing me to bring me home and raise me to love the Lord and to become the woman I am today.

I am also thankful that the Lord also adopts us as His sons and daughters as we call Him Father and look forward to one day all being a family in heaven!! What a blessing...what a joy...that I have been chosen to be an heir in His kingdom.

I am not sure that words could adequately describe what yesterday meant to me and how special it was-I will treasure it forever and look forward to seeing what God will continue to do through our lives as we allow Him to use us and mold us into His image...

"For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will-to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves...In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory". ~Ephesians 1:4-6, 11