Adoption and Resurrection

(So, I'm a bit late, but it's still technically the Easter season!)

What does adoption have to do with Easter?

Well in a very interesting passage tucked away at the very beginning of Romans, Paul connects the resurrection of Jesus to the idea of adoption.  The letter begins with this greeting:

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead..."

Paul associates the resurrection of Jesus with his "declaration as Son of God."  What does it mean to be "declared  to be a son" if not to be adopted?  So here we have the resurrection of Jesus associated with his attaining a new state of Sonship--not to say that he wasn't the Son of God eternally (I'm not promoting the ancient heresy of adoptionism), simply that upon his resurrection from the dead Jesus was Son in a  different, glorified, triumphant way.  Or as Richard Gaffin puts it, "the resurrection of Jesus is his adoption (as the second Adam)."

So when we are celebrating Easter, we are celebrating the triumphant declaration of Jesus Christ as the Son of God--once for all and in a superior, transcendent, consummative way, Jesus is claimed as God's triumphant Son, risen from the grave, forever and ever.

Interestingly, Paul returns to this idea later in Romans 8 when he connects the resurrection of the bodies of believers as the consummation of their adoption: "And not only the whole creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." (Rom 8:22)

Our adoption as sons and daughters of God is not complete until we share fully in the adoptive-resurrection of the Son of God, when we too are claimed--body and soul--to be God's own and claim our inheritance beyond the grave.  As sons of God, our future is secure in and shaped by the triumph of the Son of God who was declared to be Son by his resurrection from the dead.  He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

How Does God Change Us?

Right now on my sabbatical I'm working on drawing out some implications of adoption for the Christian life.  Specifically, I'm trying to write about how God changes us through adoption.

In 1936, the philosopher Etienne Gilson had some harsh words to say about Protestant theology:
"For the first time, with the Reformation, there appeared this conception of a grace that saves a man without changing him, of a justice that redeems corrupted nature without restoring it, of a Christ who pardons the sinner for self-inflicted wounds but does not heal them."

Ouch!  Is that true?  It's true that many people understand the doctrine of "justification by grace alone" to mean that since we are saved by faith and not by works, our salvation is wholly unrelated to the life we live.  What I'm trying to work through in my paper is how adoption helps address these misunderstandings.  Here's the working thesis:

"Because adoption is transformative as well as forensic, it provides an overarching soteriological concept in which both forensic justification and transformative sanctification are situated, united, and distinguished...
Once we draw adoption out of the long shadow of justification by acknowledging its inherent transformative aspects, we discover that adoption also helps us develop an account of the Christian life that is thoroughly Reformed, forensic, transformative, and covenantal while avoiding the problems inherent in metaphysical ontological construals of the Christian life.  Having done this we have all the tools necessary to develop not only a thoroughly Reformed account of the application of redemption, but also develop the contours of a covenantal ontology with greater clarity.  Thus, the doctrine of adoption offers a way through and beyond polarizing and polemical debates surrounding justification and transformation.  Adoption helps the Reformation say more clearly and more thoroughly what it had wanted to say all along."

The Words I've Been Looking For

Right now I'm working through a very interesting book by Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, The Spirit of Adoption: At Home in God's Family.  It's a unique book in that it stole my idea 10 years before I had it interweaves theological aspects of adoption with stories of the ups and downs of the adoption of orphans.  Of all the books I've read so far, this one most resonates with my own experience in our attempted Russian adoption.

Stevenson-Moessner brings to the forefront the various emotions of adoption: joy, expectation, anxiety, fear, fulfillment and grief.  Yes, grief.  Of course we experienced deep grief when the adoption ban passed, but it was very hard to explain to other people--we had no categories for this kind of loss ourselves, nor could we expect other people to have categories for it either.  How to name or process our grief?  After all, the boy we wanted to adopt was never "really ours," we had only spent a few days with him.  And he hadn't really died, he just wasn't coming to live with us.

Because he was "never ours" it was strange to try to own the loss that we felt.  How can you lose what you've never had?

Because he was still alive, it was strange to try to own the grief we felt.  It felt like he had died, but he was still alive (though was not facing a hopeful future).

The word in the adoption world is "failed adoption."  But we didn't feel like we failed.  We felt like we had done everything we were supposed to do.  It felt like our adoption had been taken from us.  It felt like a death.  It felt inappropriate and presumptuous to compare it to a miscarriage, because we hadn't experienced that kind of awful sadness, but that was the closest we could come to in terms of categorizing the deep dark sadness that enveloped us for much of 2013.

Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner speaks well to the precarious instabilities of adoption, and she employs a term that is helpful in thinking back over our experience.  She speaks of "miscarried adoptions":

"Much has been written about the grieving of birth mothers and adoptees.  One of my goals in this book is to document aspects of the grieving of adoptive parents...A miscarried adoption is the most difficult of all adoption experiences." (pg 53.)

Miscarried adoption.  That phrase helps categorize the sadness we felt, and what so many other prospective parents we came to know felt as well.  It helps name and make real the pain that we experienced.  And also good to be reminded of what we discovered in that experience: "For years I repeated the Apostles' Creed and never thought much about the phrase 'And he descended into hell.'  If you experience a failed adoption, you descend into hell...but remember that Christ descended into hell and is victor even over that." (pg 53-4)

More than Righteous, At Home

One of the great things the doctrine of adoption can do is expand our understanding of what God has done for us.  For Protestants, it is usually justification that is key to our understanding of salvation; that in Christ, God declares the guilty to be righteous.

This is wonderful as far as it goes, but an understanding of adoption helps us understand that God does more than just forgive us or declare us to be righteous. As good as that is, God goes further.

As Galatians 4:4-6 puts it, "When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son--born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons."

The "so that" is key--it shows that God's sending of Jesus, his redeeming us out from under the curse of the law, all that had a larger purpose.  The larger purpose is so that we might be adopted into his family.

So far one of my favorite books I've read on this topic has been Trevor Burke's Adopted into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor.  Here's a great passage from that book:

"To be declared righteous at the bar of God is one thing; it is, however, quite another to be adopted into God's family and able to call him 'Abba, Father'.  Put another way, God does not only justify people and then leave them destitute with nowhere to go--he adopts them into the warmth and security of his household." (pg 25-26)

I wonder how many of us have reflected deeply on the implications of being able to call God "Abba Father," to be welcomed as members into the warmth and security of his household?  How would we live differently if we believed this to be true of us?

"You are my Son, with you I am well pleased..."

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the baptism of Jesus, that moment when Jesus is baptized in the Jordan, and his messianic task is initiated. There is so much to say about this passage, and so much to wonder about this passage. In Matthew's account, the voice from heaven speaks about Jesus: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." The voice of the Father is addressed to those around witnessing the baptism.

Interestingly, in Mark and Luke's telling, the voice speaks not to the surrounding crowd, but to Jesus himself: "You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased." (Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22).

What is going on here? One of the books I read for class (Michael Peppard's The Son of God in the Roman World) suggests that this is a kind of adoption, a kind of mimicking of the adoption-to-power of the Roman emperor (who, interestingly, was also known as "the son of God").  In other words, Mark is making clear to his Roman readers that Jesus--not Caesar--is the true Son of God.

But then, as Michael Peppard asks: "But if the voice is directed privately to Jesus, and Jesus already was the son of God, and already knew that he was, then why did the scene happen at all?" (pg 97).  It's a good question.

Well, I don't have a good answer to that question, but it reminded me of an provocative thought I heard a couple years back.  I was at a conference on children and divorce, and I heard Lisa Lickona suggest that all children need both to be both "begotten and chosen."

Or, to put it another way, all children need to be both born and adopted.  Birthed and chosen.  Given life and given love.  And so maybe part of what we are seeing here is God the Father doing to his only-begotten Son what all human fathers do (or should do) to their begotten children--not only have them, but choose them.  Adopt them.

Well, part of the reason the blog has been slow is that we've been preparing for the birth of our third child, and Liam was born on Wednesday morning.  So here he is:

My son, with him I am well-pleased.

Adoption Doesn't Mean Adoption

When we think of adoption today, we think of orphans.  People often adopt in order to help a child, place them in a home, provide them with love, family, and a future.  It's a wonderful, beautiful thing and I'm so glad that people adopt, and that it's a prominent thing in the church and in society.

That said, one of the things I've been somewhat surprised to learn as I have been studying the Pauline use of adoption is that when the Bible speaks of adoption, it's not talking about what we are talking about.  That's because adoption in Greco-Roman society was a completely different institution than our modern adoption model.  This is important to clarify if we are going to understand the Bible's message rightly--when the Bible talks about adoption it is NOT talking primarily about the welfare of children.

For one thing, in ancient society, most adoptees were adults, not children.  And the reason you were adopted was not because you were in need but because someone else needed you--to carry on the family name, to inherit and oversee the family estate.  As Michael Peppard puts it in his book The Son of God in the Roman World: Divine Sonship in its Social and Political Context:

"Roman adoption was not for a child to gain a home of love and care but for an adult to gain an inheritance of wealth and status.  Stated another way, it was not enacted to stabilize the life of a child, but to stabilize the future of a father." (pg 60)  For that reason, a person (usually a grown man) would only be adopted after he had proven himself a trustworthy and reliable person.

Why does this matter?  Well, it matters because if we're going to understand the Bible, we need to understand it on its own terms.  Imagine if when we read about Noah's ark, we imagined a big modern-day cruise ship?  Or if everytime we read about a shepherd we imagined a huge New Zealand sheep ranch?  To understand what the Bible is and isn't saying, we need to understand...what the Bible is and isn't saying.

So what does this mean about adoption?  Does it mean that God isn't really our father?  That we aren't supposed to adopt children?  That we shouldn't see glimpses of the gospel in the beauty of an multiethnic adoptive family?  Nope.

Here's just a few implications:

It means that when Jesus came to rescue us, to redeem us for adoption as sons and daughters, we weren't adorable little cherubic children that would tug on anyone's heartstrings. No, we were slaves, Paul says.  We were rebels.  It wasn't that we were so cute and needy and had so much potential.  It was because God is so loving and faithful and powerful to redeem lost sinners.

It also means that our adoption in Christ is due to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth earned the right to his Father's inheritance by his life of perfect obedience and sacrifical death.  Jesus is the only one who earned his place as a Son of God, but by his grace we get to share in that too as we receive his Spirit--what Paul calls "the Spirit of adoption" (Romans 8:15).

So our adoption as sons and daughters of God isn't due to our being just so inherently lovable and needy.  It was and is due to the Faithful Son, Jesus Christ, who has proven himself a worthy heir of all the Father's riches, and who reclaims us from slavery so that we can become sons and daughters.  And through us, adopted sons and daughters, the Father's name, family, and glory are extended throughout the earth.

Huiothesia...(Gesundheit?)

In my last post I mentioned how the idea of adoption shows up very infrequently in the history of theology, far less frequently, than say, ideas like justification and redemption.  You might think, if no one has thought very much of adoption, then is it really such a big deal?

The first thing to say is that it was a big deal to Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament.  The second thing to say, strange as it sounds, is that he only uses the word 5 times.  Stay with me...

The word translated as "adoption" in (most of) our Bibles is a the Greek word "huiothesia," which is a compound of "huios" (son) and "tithemi" (to place or to set).  So the word adoption literally means "to set in the place of a son."  Now I said a moment ago that this word only occurs 5 times in the New Testament, and yet I also said a moment ago that it is still a very big deal.  How?

Well, the amount of times a word is used doesn't necessarily tell you how important it is: the way it is used tells you its significance.  And we find huiothesia being used at very important places in Paul's writings. For example,

When Paul is talking about God's eternal plan to save, way back into the mists of pretemporal eternity, before anything has been made, we find huiothesia: "even as he chose us in him before the foundations of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.  In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will." (Ephesians 1:4-5)

When Paul is talking about the covenant God made with the people of Israel, which constitutes the basic foundation of the whole Old Testament, we find huiothesia: "They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises."  (Romans 9:4)

When Paul is talking about salvation itself, the sending of Jesus to redeem us, we find huiothesia as the point of it all: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4-5)

When Paul is talking about the work of the Holy Spirit, he calls him the "Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba, Father!" (Romans 8:15)

When Paul is talking about the resurrection of the body at the end of time, we find huiothesia: "And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." (Romans 8:23)

So though Paul only uses huiothesia five times, he uses it at crucial moments: when discussing, the eternal plan of God, the outworking of that covenant in Israel and in Jesus, the work of the Spirit, and the consummation of redemption.  Those are huge topics, and the fact that Paul say fit to think about all of those concepts under the umbrella term of adoption means we ought to pay attention to the idea.  After all, it only explains creation, covenant, redemption, and consummation, that's all!

Not only that, adoption/huiothesia helps us understand the Trinity, because as Paul as shown, huiothesia is at the very heart of the plan of God the Father (who determined before time began to adopt us as sons (Eph 1), the work of the Son (who redeemed us for adoption, Gal 4) and the work of the Holy Spirit of adoption (Rom 8).  The whole Trinitarian character of God is described in terms of adoption.

And then of course, there are many other New Testament themes that adoption helps illuminate and make sense of: the whole notion of God as Father, the concept of our eternal inheritance, the church as the family of God, and on and on it goes.

No wonder JI Packer has said that you only understand Christianity as well as you understand adoption.

Sabbatical is Off to a "Smashing" Start!

The word "sabbatical" comes from the word for "sabbath," implying rest.  And so the irony is rich that on the first day of my sabbatical I was awoken with a phone call at 2:00 am from a neighbor letting me know that this had happened:

(Um, no...I did not park the car that way)

Yes, a drunk driver (a celebrating Seahawk fan, no doubt) decided to play a little pinball up and down our street, and managed to hit not only one, but both of our cars...and another car down the street...and a number of trash cans, before getting arrested.  So instead of starting my sabbatical with a contemplative prayer, or a piping hot cup of coffee and profound theological meditation, I began Monday morning at my local auto body shop chatting with an insurance adjuster.

However, I am not to be dissuaded or discouraged!  Tuesday I still trekked up to Philly for my first seminar.  The class looks like it will be great--about 10 students in total in the class so we'll have lots of time for discussion and presentation.  Even the commute was not so bad.  It's true, I'm in the car for about 3 times as long as I am actually in the seminar, but I can also take the train sometimes and sleep/read/sleep.  It's an early morning but one morning a week ain't so bad.  Here's some pictures of the WTS campus:

There's also irony in the fact that I'm studying at Westminster, since WTS was actually a seminary founded by profs that broke off from Princeton Seminary, my alma mater, in the early 1930's.  The history between these two institutions has not always been the friendliest, with PTS generally dismissing WTS as grouchy fundies, and WTS generally disdaining PTS as crazy liberals.  As usual, the truth is more complicated than the labels.

There's lots of reasons why WTS is a great place to study the particular subject I'm interested in.  For one thing, WTS is a place where John Calvin looms large and influential, and as one scholar has written that Calvin (all his caricatures notwithstanding) taught a message that, at its core, was "a gospel of adoption."  Secondly, Westminster is named for and guided by the Westminster Standards, which are the first statements of faith in the history of the church to give the doctrine of adoption special attention.  Thirdly, the professor I'm studying under is an expert on the topic, one of the few people in the country who has written on the theology of adoption on a scholarly level.

As my studies are just starting to get underway, this is the question I'm reading and thinking about: if adoption is such an important theological concept, why are Calvin and the Westminster divines the only folks to have given it much thought?  (And as one scholar I'm reading makes plain, the Reformed tradition influenced by these sources neglects it just as often as everyone else.)

Well, there was one other guy who thought a lot of the idea, and his name was the Apostle Paul.  I'll blog more about how he used the idea later this week.

Books!

During my sabbatical, I'm plannin' to do some fancy book-learnin'.  Here's what's on the reading list:

• Trevor Burke, Adopted Into God's Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor 
• Trevor Burke, The Message of Sonship
• Johnny Carr, Orphan Justice: How to Care for Orphans Beyond Adopting
• Michael Peppard, The Son of God in the Roman World: Divine Sonship in its Social and Political Context
• Robert Peterson, Adopted by God: From Wayward Sinners to Cherished Children
• James Scott, Adoption as Sons of God: An Exegetical Investigation into the Background in the Pauline Corpus
• Jeanne Stevenson--Moessnerr, The Spirit of Adoption: At Home in God's Family
• Tim J.R. Trumper, When History Teaches Us Nothing: The Recent Reformed Sonship Debate in Context
• Robert A. Webb, The Reformed Doctrine of Adoption

I know, I know...best sellers, all of 'em!   The plan is to read these books, as well as a handful of articles and essays.   I also brought home some piles of Calvin, Barth and Wright, just to be safe, but I might not read all of those...it depends on the direction I end up going.

These are the books that will be informing the thinking and posting that I'll be doing for the next few months.  When I finish each book, I'll try to post a brief review.  

Sabbatical officially begins tomorrow, with my first seminar on Tuesday!

Sabbatical!

I'm really excited to say that I'm about to start on a 3 month period of study on the theology of adoption.  I'll be blogging through this sabbatical study period, both to help process my thinking but also to keep up to speed the awesome congregation who are so graciously affording me the time.  Here are the details:

As any of the four people who have read this blog know, our family’s experience of pursuing an adoption was a transformative one.  Not only was it an enormously stressful two years, but it was one of profound spiritual growth.  God used the process of adoption to open my eyes to the biblical concept of adoption and I began to investigate this biblical theme to great benefit both personally and vocationally.  I became aware of a doctoral seminar on the doctrine of adoption was offered at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.  I applied and was accepted as a Special Student. 

I’m really looking forward to digging deep into the theology, but I also plan to use the time to do some writing, both academic and personal.  I have been encouraged by many people to share our adoption story and the theological insights it brought to light.  What will come of it?  The greatest work of theology written in the twenty-first century!  Or, something less.  Who knows.  But, I couldn’t realistically make much progress on any kind of similar project in the midst of daily pastoral work, so I'm immensely grateful to my church for giving me time away to sharpen my understanding of the theology of adoption, reflect theologically on the last couple years, do some writing, and also, welcome a baby that's coming in March!

If you're interested in following along you are welcome!

Our Russian Adoption: The End (and, To Be Continued)

At the end of June we learned some news about our adoption that was very surprising but is ultimately good news, we think: the biological family has stepped forward and is planning to take “our” little boy back to live with them.

It took us some time to wrap our minds around this very unexpected development, but at this point we feel that though it is a loss for us, it is definitely a gain for him.  To live with his own parents and his younger brother could very well be the best possible outcome.  

In the midst of the sadness of this news, we've been comforted by the fact that his parents very likely have stepped forward in part as a result of the media attention our situation has been getting, particularly in the Russian press as a result of being matched with us as his prospective parents.  We’ve often thought of and wondered about his parents: what did they think when thousands marched in January in St Petersburg protesting the ban? Did they see any of the news interviews with his orphanage director, when she discussed his particular situation?  It appears that they did see and felt the need to respond.  And for that we are thankful, even though it still feels like there is a hole in our hearts and in our home.

Nikolsky Cathedral in St Petersburg, where our little guy was claimed by God in baptism.

So the story we've been living in wasn't the story we thought.  Bethany put it this way: our story is no longer (never was) a story of adoption gone wrong, but instead our job was to stand in the gap for this little boy, a world away, and love him until his family could.  Never before have we felt more called to remain with something that seemed more and more impossible. All throughout this crazy rollercoaster process we've been saying to each other "God is up to something here" and now it seems that we can see what that something was.   

It has been a lesson in God’s sovereignty.  One Sunday after worship, after the ban came into effect, I was chatting with folks and a dear woman came up to me and said, “I just want to tell you something.  I’ve been praying for your adoption every day since you announced it, and a very strange thing happened to me that I need to tell you about.  You might think this is crazy, but the other day I was praying for you and I heard a voice--I swear I heard a voice--that said: ‘Timothy will be united with his family.’ I just wanted to tell you that.”  

I was so thankful and encouraged by this, and of course we interpreted it in a certain way at the time.  It seems that it indeed has come true though, in a way more literal than we had thought.  His ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts higher than our thoughts.

We are in touch with the orphanage director and getting details along the way from her.  We have written a letter to the parents to introduce ourselves, encourage them, and just let them know we'd love to stay in communication with them if they are open to that.  

And after we lick our wounds for a little while and recover from the stress of these last months, we plan to pursue another adoption sometime in the future.  In a way, the “Russian adoption” chapter has closed, but in another sense it continues because it has marked us and changed us in irreversible ways. Thanks to all of you for caring, reading and for praying for us and for the situation.  Those prayers have not been wasted!  Please join us now in praying that the hearts of this little boy and his family would continue to be opened to each other. 

I'm Speaking On Adoption This Saturday

I'm thankful for the opportunity to share what I've learned about adoption with the men of National Presbyterian Church in Washington DC. The theme: "Jesus is...Pursuing Adoption."

What It Means to Say Yes to Adoption

When you say yes to adoption, you are saying yes to enter the suffering of the orphan, and that suffering includes waiting for you to get them. I promise you, their suffering is worse than yours. We say yes to the tears, yes to the longing, yes to the maddening process, yes to the money, yes to hope, yes to the screaming frustration of it all, yes to going the distance through every unforeseen discouragement and delay. Do not imagine that something outside of "your perfect plan" means you heard God wrong. There is no perfect adoption. Every adoption has snags. We Americans invented the "show me a sign" or "this is a sign" or "this must mean God is closing a door" or "God must not be in this because it is hard," but all that is garbage. You know what's hard? Being an orphan. They need us to be champions and heroes for them, fighting like hell to get them home. So we will. We may cry and rage and scream and wail in the process, but get them home we will.

--Jen Hatmaker

Do Christians Have "Orphan Fever" and Is it Harmful?

A couple weeks ago I heard an interview on NPR's Fresh Air about a forthcoming book outlining the evangelical adoption movement.  You can find the interview here, and here is an article by the author in Mother Jones.  The suggestion is that the well-meaning emphasis on adoption has a dark underbelly that results in everything from good old-fashioned proselytizin' to corruption to child trafficking.

I've got this book reserved at my library, and hope to post a review here when I have a chance to read it.  I'm sure there's much to learn, and I have no doubt that there are corrupt elements in international adoption, since human beings are involved.

In the meantime, I'll point you to two responses to the interview/article that suggest that the article is not being fair:

Ed Stetzer interviews some leaders in the orphan care movement asking for their response, and Jonathan Merritt calls the article shameful.

So What's Happening With Your Adoption?

Many people have graciously inquired as to the status of our adoption process since the Russian government passed a law banning adoptions by Americans.  Others may be wondering but are unsure how to ask, so I thought I’d provide an update and thank you for your prayers and concern.

The first thing to say is that the ban has indeed stopped the adoption process for us and hundreds of other families.  There are two main reasons given for the adoption ban: 1) as a response to the US congress passing human rights sanctions against some Russian officials, and 2) as a response to 20 reported cases of Russian adoptees being abused and/or neglected by their adoptive parents.  (There have been approximately 60,000 Russian children adopted by Americans since 1991.)  The law came into effect on January 1, and since then only those families who had received a court-approved adoption decree were able to finalize their adoptions.  These families had taken two trips, we had only taken one, when we met the child and signed our official consent to adopt.  Families in situation such as ours are referred to as “pipeline cases.”

We have been in communication with the Department of State, members of Congress, and human rights advocates in hopes that an arrangement can be worked out, particularly for the “pipeline cases,” however at this point there has been more potential than visible progress.  We continue to hope and pray that an agreement can be reached and that we will be able to finish our adoption.  As you can imagine, this will take a good bit of time, and the outcome is known only to our sovereign Lord (who, we are happy to say, calls himself “father to the fatherless” Psalm 68:5)  We are waiting and trusting him for guidance.

In the meantime we are grateful that God has invited us into this adventure, difficult though it is, because we have felt our hearts enlarged with compassion and our faith deepened and stretched.  We’ve learned that difficult circumstances do not mean that God is absent, and that living for things that matter can bring heartache.  We are growing in our reliance on God, our confidence in his goodness, and our assurance that He also loves the little boy we love, even more deeply than we do.  We can trust Him.

Hard News

*Note: this is from an email we sent out to family and friends back on January 1:

As you all surely know, Ru$$ia's adoption ban was signed, and it takes effect today.  Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us and encouraged us during what was a very difficult week.  Just wanted to let you know where things stand at the moment.

We've connected with the State Department as well as with other adoptive families who find themselves in the same lurch.  Lots of people are doing lots of work to see what can be done to allow families who have made their first trip (like us) to finish the process.  However, the Ru$$ian govt is on holiday for about two weeks so we're not sure how much can be accomplished at the moment.

Though this was devastating news, we hope that God will use all of this to improve conditions for the 750,000 orphans in Ru$$ia.  And we still hope that our little guy will come join our family.  

"This is my Father's world / O let me never forget/ that though the wrong seems oft so strong/ God is the ruler yet."

Thanks for caring and praying,

First Trip Complete!!!

This was originally written in October 2012: 

First trip complete!  Our little guy has definitely become more at ease with us each day (bummer that we have to leave!) and we spent snacktime with him and played for awhile.  We learned that he likes to sing and dance and also has far better table manners than the two boys who have grown up in our house.  This kid is seriously great: playful, perceptive, sweet, goofy.

The hardest part was leaving and knowing that we probably won't see him again for some months.  We still have to finish compiling our court dossier, and even though we're almost finished with it, our facilitator indicated that she doubted that we'd get a court date assigned before the end of the year, and the month of January is a time of national holidays so things will move slowly during that time.  We'll move as quickly as possible, but bureaucracy moves at its own pace.  (As a reminder, we need to travel back for our court hearing when it is assigned, and then again 30 days later to bring him home.)

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for your encouraging notes and prayers.  We have been so strengthened by them and have seen circumstances arrange themselves in remarkable ways that we cannot believe to be coincidental, so know that your prayers have been put to work, and we are grateful.  We are thankful in advance for your prayers for safety as we return home tomorrow! 

Book Recommendation: Adopted For Life

I reviewed Russell Moore's great book Adopted for Life in the Presbyterian Outlook.  Here's the link.  Then go read the book.

Is That A Light At The End of the Tunnel?

Today we have received what feels to be (long-overdue) hopeful news:

Our agency has informed us that a three-step adoption treaty ratification process is scheduled to begin tomorrow!  Our hope and expectation has been that this treaty's ratification between the US and the other government is a necessary step that has to occur in order for the adoption suspension to be lifted.  Until now we have had no sense of when that might occur, other than "soon."  So this is a great step.

In fact, our in-country facilitator is willing to receive our dossier to begin the process of translating it so that it is ready for submission.  Thus far our dossier has been sitting in our agency's office here in the States, so it is enormously encouraging that the situation has shifted enough that we were invited to send it over--it means our facilitator wants to get working on it so it is ready to go as soon as the way is clear.

We still aren't sure when this means we will be formally submitted, or how long the ratification process will take, and obviously we are painfully aware of how tenuous this process can be, but this is wonderful news nonetheless.  As Bethany put it, the doors haven't swung wide open yet but they are starting to open slowly.

Please join us in praying for continued progress.  And pray for the child we so hope to be ours!

Amy Julia Becker Speaking At My Church

If you're in the area, please consider coming to hear Amy Julia Becker, author of A Good and Perfect Gift, (a book I have praised already) who is coming to speak at Neelsville Presbyterian Church in Germantown on Saturday, May 26.   We'll have two presentations: "Rethinking Perfect Children" and "Loving Beyond Ability," with a lunch in between.

Books and lunch will be available...the whole thing is free.  You don't want to miss it.  Click here to register.

Also, feel free to tweet, share, blog, email, or otherwise tell people you know who may be interested.