Have You Ever Considered Adoption? [You're a Good Candidate IF...]

"What makes one a good candidate for adoption?" This is a question that I've often been asked. Usually, what comes after this question is a list of things that people feel have made them ineligible for the task. However, lately, I have been overwhelmed with the burden that nothing can disqualify you from something God has called all of us as Christians to take a hand in. If you've considered adoption, here are a few ways to figure out if you're a good candidate.

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I have heard a lot of gut-wrenching stories of institutionalized children. Stories of hundreds of babies lying in a crowded room who have stopped crying because they know their needs will never be met. I have personally known children who go without food so long that eating feces because it’s not only normal but a necessity to survive. I have heard of abuse and neglect that I have struggled to comprehend. I'm brought to my knees by all of this knowledge that floods my mind on orphaned children I have to ask…

ARE YOU:

• Married, or are you single?
• A 20 something who has never been a parent before or a 50-year-old whose children are raised and moved away?
• Someone who's always dreamt of having kids, or someone who's never really given it a second thought?
• Living in a big house with empty rooms, or a tiny apartment that may feel bursting at the seams?
• Someone who has the means to take in another child, or are you someone who prays to make ends meet?
• Someone who is overwhelmed at all the variables that could go wrong or maybe someone who is just hopeful for all the things that could go right?

Are you any of the things? Then you’re a perfect candidate for adoption.

Because I know someone has told you that your life circumstances have disqualified you for bringing a child into your home. Your too old, you’re too young, you’re too busy, and it’s too expensive.None of these reasons compare to the image of an orphaned child. I am here to tell you that anyone who opens their home to a child in need will never find this task in vain. If you have a beating heart that is willing to serve the Lord, the answer is yes. Yes, I will open my house. I will open my life. Yes, I will set aside my comforts. By saying yes, maybe that baby who never cried in an institution would bump his knee and come running to me because, for once in his life, he trusts someone will care for him. Just maybe my tiny house and busy life would still be better than the life this child lived previous to coming into a family.

Related Post: Good Intentions Aren’t Enough [Christians Need to Take Action]

As I sit at a monthly play-date with other adopted kids and watch our babies run around, I am in awe. I see what this broken world had tried to claim over these sweet children’s lives. I see it overcome with the goodness that has now become their lives. More than anything, I see the redemptive power of an almighty God who used a bunch of incapable, unqualified people to just be obedient to a call. A group of people who probably had every reason in the book to say no but did it anyway.So I ask you, you with the tiny home, or the stretched finances: would you pray about it? Will you ask God if this is something He has planned for your life? Would you dare to debate with your own list of "why it would never work"? I promise you if you jump, God will catch you. And it will be the greatest adventure of your life and perhaps not just your life… But theirs.

My Prayer Today as You're Considering Adoption:

Father, I pray for...

• Open hearts to follow your leading!
• Families to begin to pray about adoption and what that would look like for them.
• Families to open up their doors to adoption. And if not their doors, they would bring support to people who are ready to take on the task.
• An urgency to sweep over us as Christians to take authority over these precious children and their futures.
• Excuses to be released as they can no longer hold us back from the things you have called us to do.

I pray that whatever part each Christian has in adoption that they know it is for your glory. I pray that you confirm in the hearts of your people who no task is too small, to begin to make a giant movement in the world of adoption. Thank you, father, that you adopted us into your family through the death of your son Jesus Christ. We know we are not deserving of this, but we stand humbly before you and forever give you thanks. We are overwhelmed with the magnitude that you allow us to mirror the gospel in our lives through adoption. It is in your precious name we pray, amen.