Only God!
“What great love the Father has lavished on us
that we should be called children of God!
1 John 3:1 (NIV)
Have you ever prayed an impossible prayer and made a request that only God could answer?
Last year after multiple miscarriages and a fruitless adoption process, my son and his wife matched with a newborn baby girl. Each night as my husband and I prayed, we thanked God for Birdie James’ life and I prayed what seemingly was an “only God” prayer: “God, if there’s any way you could give two 44-year-olds another baby, would you be pleased to do that?” Honestly, I never doubted God could, but I never dreamed He actually would! Lord, help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24)
A few days after Birdie James had her first birthday my son and daughter-in-law unexpectedly received a phone call asking them if they would be interested in adopting another little girl who, miracle of miracles, is Birdie James’ biological sister! The girls were born twelve months apart. Robert and Anne prayed and together quickly answered, “Yes!”
Three sweet cousins!
Judge Allison Boyd’s Shelby County courtroom was filled with a happy mixture of wails and joyous laughter on Thursday afternoon. It was happy chaos as our family gathered for our youngest granddaughter’s adoption to became final. Unlike Birdie James’ adoption proceeding last year, 5-month-old Poppie was wide awake the entire time. Our pictures weren’t perfect, but the joy was unmistakeable!
Adoption was originally defined by the Greeks as “instating as a son.”
Theologian J.I. Packer, author of Knowing God, writes:
“Adoption, by its very nature is an act of free kindness to the person adopted. If you become a father by adopting a son or daughter, you do so because you choose to, not because you are bound to. Similarly, God adopts because he chooses to. He had no duty to do so. He need not have done anything about our sins except punish us as we deserved. But he loved us; so he redeemed us, forgave us, took us as his sons and daughters, and gave himself to us as our Father.”
Poppie’s earthly adoption reflects on a small scale the reality of what happens when anyone turns from sin and turns to Christ. Those in Christ immediately get a new name and a new identity. We who are sinners are now declared to be saints, not on the basis of what we’ve done, but on the merit and sufficiency of what Christ did on the cross. We also get a new record, a new family, and a new forever home.
Packer again writes:
“What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father…Everything that makes the New Testament new and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God”… Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption. God has One Son by nature, but many sons by adoption… Adoption is a Christian’s highest privilege.”
Our family is so very grateful for Poppie’s birth mom who chose to give her daughter life and then chose our son and his wife to be her parents. We are also grateful for the light, life, and joy that Poppie brings to our family.
Finally, there will never be enough “thank you’s” for God’s providence and provision in bringing this child into our family. Poppie’s adoption is truly an “only God” memorial stone event for our entire Evans family. Memorials are remembrances that remind us of a time in a family’s life when everything changed. Memorial stones serve as reminders that God is our Rock (Psalm 18:1) and a very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). A memorial stone event occurs when we face a seemingly impossible situation, but we step out in faith and obedience. God then delivers us in His own miraculous way. The result is that we get the victory; God gets the glory; and we then have an “our story for His glory” as a testimony to God’s faithfulness and goodness.
Now as I pray for Poppie, I ask that she might grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18). I also ask that God, by His Spirit and for His glory, will make her:
A child of the King (salvation)
A credit to the Kingdom (character & conduct) and
A servant of the King (service)
Welcome to our family Poppie Hayes Evans! We love you very much!