March 28, 2007 A.D.
What makes one want to go out and adopt a baby? How about reading Isaiah aloud to the children and coming to chapter 58:6,7: "Is not this the fast that I choose...? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him..." A verse like that will go a long way. Talk about radical discipleship!
Another thing that makes us want to adopt is missing having a little one. Yes, little ones are work, but Elizabeth Prentiss says we all must have burdens and children are "comfortable burdens." Children have a unique role of bringing laughter and relieving tensions. They call us to come out of our self-absorption. When we are severely tempted to quit because life is hard, children give us a very concrete reason not to. All by God's grace, of course.

Conversely, what make one afraid to adopt? When you have a family crisis, you think "What made me ever think we have it together enough to adopt?" But then we never did have it all together for our biological children. If we had waited for that, we would have had ZERO children. Day by day, we look to God for his grace. Our responsibilities expose our inadeqacies, and so we become very good beggars. All by God's grace, of course.