adoption

We have every spiritual blessing.

/ Craig / Leave a comment

2May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
3All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. Ephesians 1:3-6 NLT

The description of what God has done for us because we are united with Jesu Christ encourages me. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. He has loved us. He has chosen us. He has adopted us. He has poured out His grace on us.

Wow! Definitely this knowledge generates worship. Paul says, “So we praise God!”

Taping into the spiritual blessings we have in Christ begins with knowing they are there. We are not just drilling down to find water without knowing what is below the surface. We know that in the depths of getting to know Jesus there is grace and peace. When my heart is so uneasy within me, its time to drill down into Jesus by considering again, “Who is Jesus? and “Who I am in Him?”

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Haitian adoption as a lens

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As some of you know, my family has been in the process of adoption for about 18 months.  We have been in the process with Haiti since this past Fall.  Watching the earthquake coverage has regularly put our hearts in our throats and made us wonder “how long will we sing this song?”  While I hope for a faint hope for children and families who were in the adoption process before the earthquake I am wary of behaviours which would either weaken the sovereignty of Haiti in regard to her most valuable trust or would move children before establishing clearly that there is no one available within the country to parent a child.

Meanwhile, the debate regarding adoption rages on.

Adoption has become a lens through which many other staggering needs and tragedies come into focus.  Looking around through this lens you will see people who have persistently cared and advocated for children, you will see people who use and abuse vulnerable children, you will see people who rush in with good hearts, you will see families at their wits end because they love their children yet struggle to supply their needs, you will see families yearning to be united with their child as bureaucratic processes grind on-slowly, you will see many people debating the merits of adoption, you will see the children.

I appreciated this collection of voices in the New York Times for their varied views in the Haitian adoption situation.

Canada and Haitian Adoptions–a different story?

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Jordon Cooper writes today to tell the story of Jackie and Greg who have two sons in Haiti, but have not yet been able to get them to Canada.  Of this I am confident, Canada can write a different ending to this story.  International adoption is fraught with difficulty.  Unfortunately some of that difficulty is created in response to the unmitigated willingness to take advantage of the weakest in our societies.  Other aspects of the difficulty in international adoption  is created by our caution born out of a desire to protect ourselves or our interests.  Balance is a myth.  But I believe wisdom born out of compassion will put us on the joyful side of things more often.  “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…”  Philippians 2:4-5  This attitude creates better stories!

Hopefully the desire to fast-track adoptions that have already been approved will turn into results for these families.