This post is from Amy Welton, Regent Law 2L & current Family Law student:
God
tells us in His Word “to visit
orphans and widows in their affliction” and in His second greatest commandment to love our
neighbors as ourselves. Foster care in this country is a heart-breaking
illustration of the failure of the body of Christ in fulfilling its purpose in
our world today. To discern the call of the Lord on our lives, we immerse
ourselves in His Word and obey what He has directed us to do, taking the next
right step. “Adoption is
a doctrine unique to Christianity” where it has “culminated not with a gavel but
with a cross.” As children of God, we have fellowship with Him as a gift we
have been given. He becomes our Father, and we can do similarly by providing the
same relationship to a child, giving them a new parental relationship as a gift
instead of a responsibility, typically where the biological parent has become
sorely inept.
According to Families First Network, if one family from each church – just one
family! – located in Walton County, Florida said “yes” to fostering a child,
there would be no children left in Walton County in need of placement. How
tragic is it that the body of Christ is not extending its arms to the children
that Christ Himself would have welcomed? In her description of how she views
the adoption of her child, Jody Landers said, “A child born to another woman calls me mommy. The magnitude of that
tragedy and the depth of that privilege is not lost on me.” The necessity of caring
for children and orphans is vital for obedience to our Father and for the
culmination of the divine joy that can come from such action.
The practical
aspect of incorporating a child into a home may seem like a burden or a
financial commitment of unforeseen magnitude, but the actual monumental effect
on the family is the joy and happiness that comes from sacrificially loving a
child. The overwhelming statistics regarding adoption, specifically, support
that “77.7% of families stated that their lives
have been happier as a result of the adoption, and 91.9% consider its repercussions
to be positive.” What better way for Christians to step out in a culture that
has adopted the American Dream as the ideal and shout the Good News that they
chose to believe and follow each and every day? The testimony of choosing to
love and care for a child that has no one else to do so is a picture every day
of the Gospel and a catalyst for divine joy and hope in this life. That is
family restoration.
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