Russell Moore's thoughts on Orphan Sunday

Dr. Moore has an excellent post today on how our churches should recognize Orphan Sunday on November 8th, not because it's another one of those special emphasis Sundays, a recruitment tool or cause for a special interest group, but because "Orphan Sunday could be the Pearl Harbor for spiritual warfare in your church." Moore continues,

Orphan Sunday reminds us all that orphan care isn’t a special emphasis at all. Every Christian is called to care for the fatherless (James 1:27), in different ways to be sure. No one is exempt from this mark of the Christ’s followers. Orphan Sunday carves out a space for us all to encourage one another, together, toward that end.

Read the rest here. I heartily agree, especially from someone who understands adoption and orphan care from a theological perspective. We recently enjoyed Dr. Moore's new book Adopted for Life and highly recommend it!

We're Adopting!

We've spoken about adopting since our dating days.  It's always been something we've been open to doing.  We assumed we'd have biological children first, then maybe we'd add to our family by adopting a child.  But lately the Lord has been making it clear that His plans are different than what we'd anticipated.

We both strongly desire children.  And we firmly believe that God has delayed or prevented pregnancy because He has chosen children halfway across the world for us to raise and love and point to Jesus.

So on Friday, August 28 we drove to Danville, KY to meet with someone from an adoption agency.  We'd been researching international adoption for a few months and it seemed like the Lord was pointing us in that direction.  After the meeting, there was no doubt in our minds.  We filled out an application that afternoon and walked it to the mailbox together.  It was a precious moment, the beginning of a whole new journey for us.

We're planning on adopting two babies from Ethiopia.  And we're thrilled that the Lord has provided contacts for us with a few other couples in our city who have adopted from Ethiopia recently too.  There's still a lot of paperwork to go.  And there are still a few months before we'll even see a picture of our precious children.  But we're very excited about all that's to come!

We've been especially encouraged by some of the theological implications of adoption.  You see, both of us were adopted.  We weren't orphans, at least not in the way most people think of that word.  But, as C.J. Mahaney says, we were in a condition far more serious: we were strangers to the family of God, slaves to sin, and objects of the justified wrath of God.  But in His grace, God convicted our hearts to turn from sin and trust in Jesus Christ's sacrificial death on the cross in our place.  And because of our faith in Christ, we've been adopted into a new family.  God the righteous Judge became our merciful Father.  He has given us a new identity in Christ.  And our family will have the privilege of being a visual picture of God's adopting work in the life of everyone who trusts in Christ.

There's a conference coming up called Together for Adoption.  We're not planning to go (I mean, we're already on board about adoption!), but we were really moved by the promo video.  Hope you are too: