If Not Us, Then Who?

There he goes again.

Pat Robertson on CBN cautioned people against adoption

because

"If they have demonic influences, if they have some propractor (sic) of the dark arts in their background, you never know what's going to come out of it, and you also can't tell if they've been brain damaged as a child."

Holy moly, Pat!

OK, let's break this down.

1. "Demonic influences."

You don't have to be born in Africa or Haiti to be born into demonic influences. Christ came to deliver us from evil, to pay for our sins and our heritage of sin being sons and daughters of Adam & Eve, and to break the power of the Enemy and his stronghold over this earth. He came to bring restoration. He came to bring redemption over all manner of sin. Yours. Mine. ALL of ours. To believe that ANYone is beyond redemption because of some spooky voodoo or scary foreign witchcraft, which may or may not have been a child's biological relatives' particular sin is to not actually fully believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

2. "You don't know what's going to come out of it."

That is 100% correct. You do not. If you want a perfectly calm, safe existence, by no means should you live according to Holy Scripture. The Bible not only tells us we MAY go through trial, tribulation, and suffering, it absolutely GUARANTEES it! You are never going to know what manner of pain and trouble following The Call of God is going to cost you. Never. But, you are PROMISED that it's gonna hurt.

If you buy into

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

the cost will be high. You are not going to know what's going to come out of it, but, GOD will be glorified!

3. "You can't tell if they've been brain damaged as a child."

I know a precious, beautiful "brain damaged" child who was born in Ethiopia and adopted into Team Alexander who has spread the Gospel like wildfire by his family's faith through the suffering of his condition and the triumph God is bring in the midst of it!

This is precious Abe and his mama, Emily, a sweet sister in Christ.

All of this was in reference to the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit VI in Minneapolis last month. Haus and I had hoped to go this year, but were unfortunately unable to make it. Oh, how I wish we had gone!

Pat Robertson is way off the mark on this point. He misses that we, as people, are ALL stained by evil and sin and need the redemption and restoration of Jesus! He misses that we, in Christ, are ALL adopted!

Let me tell you something that is going to make some people squirm and others leave me nasty remarks,

If you don't "get" adoption, you don't really "get" salvation.

Lisa Harding is absolutely right when she says, "People have said, 'oh, aren't they lucky? You rescued them from, you know... whatever. And, I think 'Are you kidding?!?' I'm the lucky one. I get to be their mom and I get to be daily rescued from my selfishness and my impatience and things that are just as disease-ridden in my soul. So, yeah, I guess I'm the lucky one."

This is my precious Cupcake and me on our Gotcha Day!

Haus and I don't know if we are going to adopt again. We've wrestled back and forth not yet coming to a solid conclusion. Would the cost be high? Yes. But, the question that comes up over and over again is

If not us, then who?

A Word About Birth Mothers

Every now and then I hear parents refer negatively about their child's birth mother and it really grinds me. It ticks me off to hear people who have been blessed beyond measure by a little bundle of joy dismissively, condescendingly, or even cuttingly talk about his or her birth mother, this woman who brought that little sweet one into the world. Do they not think about what suffering she likely went through? The unbelievable loss and grief? The tremendous blessing and gift she gave them?

This time of year always makes me a little more emotional. Grateful. Reflective.

Ten years ago today, Pookie's birth mother went into labor more than three weeks early. She called and we hopped on a plane as fast as we could, hoping to be in the delivery room as planned.

Those hours of flying and then driving in the middle of the night to the hospital were filled with... excitement, anticipation, worry about Pookie and his birth mother, grief for her, joy for me. That bittersweetness was overwhelming.

Is overwhelming.

Pookie's birth mother.

She knew about him first. Loved him first. Chose LIFE for him. Chose us as his Forever Family. Chose me to be his mama. She felt him move inside her belly. Watched him on the ultrasound. Knew he was a "he" first. And, she welcomed him into the world.

I didn't. Our plane got delayed and I missed the birth of my sweet boy.

Looking back, I'm so glad for her that that moment was hers and hers alone.

She got to hold Pookie first. Kiss his sweet face, his tummy, his little toes. She had those moments with our boy to herself.


To say, "I love you. I always will."


To say, "Goodbye, my love."


When we arrived at the hospital and tip-toed in to their room, she greeted us with kisses and tears and said, "Come, meet your son."

I am so grateful.