Aside from Jesus Christ, the only sinless man to ever walk on the face of the earth, nothing is perfect. Christians are not perfect. We mess up. Every day brings another chance to try to get it right, but inevitably, we still fail at being anywhere close to the perfect parent or perfect spouse. We can, however, get up every day and know that God’s mercies are new and we are still loved by Him.
And it works. We can continue to walk this path because we have an eternal hope in a God who sees all and knows all. Above all else, He is a PERFECT God with PERFECT plans. As believers, we are called to holiness, and we are adopted as His children, to be loved by His unfailing, unconditional love. He wants to lavish this love upon us.
This is what we are called to model to our own children. Because we live in an imperfect world, there are children who need families. When Christian believers step up and answer the call to adopt, we are sharing the love that God has extended to us with our adopted child. If we allow ourselves to be used by God, as vessels of His love, we can be the vessel that pours His perfect love into the hearts of our children. Some of our children come to us with very broken hearts, very wounded spirits. Our family’s experience with adopting children at older ages has shown us just how deep some of these wounds can be, but we have also seen just how much deeper the love of God can flow into their hearts and help to heal their wounds.
Again, nothing on this earth is perfect. There is a factor of human free will and thought in the mix. God’s love is amazing and the fact that He adopts us all into His family helps children understand their own adoption. When a child opens his heart to the love of God and his new adoptive family, healing can abound. We know this is not always the case, and some wounds cut so deeply into the hearts of children that they choose (either consciously or unconsciously in some cases) to close themselves off to the love that is offered to them. I believe that at some point in their lives, however, they will see more clearly the love that has been offered to them and the value of this kind of love.
When we let ourselves, as believers, be the vessel that God can use to pour His love into the lives of our children, healing and bonding can occur. I believe that is why Christian adoptions work, because we are not only relying on our own strength to love and parent our children. We have been given the gift of God’s all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present, healing love. He is perfect. His love is perfect. I am not. With God, adoption makes sense. Let God’s love pour through you and into the lives of your children. Let it be a soothing balm to whatever ails them. Let His love be the glue that binds your family together. It really works.
Written by: Melissa Hoffman
