Did you know that November is National Adoption Month in the U.S.? It is also when we recognize Orphan Sunday, a Christian effort to promote and assist families with adoption.
Jim and I are so thankful that Calvary has a rich history of families opening their homes and their lives to orphans. They have hearts that beat with God’s heart to “defend the fatherless” (Deut. 10:18), to “take up the cause of the fatherless….” (Isaiah 1:17) and to practice religion that “God our Father accepts as pure and faultless…to look after orphans….”(James 1:27).
But it is not just a historical emphasis at Calvary. We know of at least three families that are actively in the middle of their adoption process, and we look forward to welcoming their children into our church family.
This November, adoption is also personal for my family. My brother and sister-in-law will return from Uganda at the end of the week with two children, three-year-old Elsie and one-year-old Ki. Because of their desire to seek the Lord to see if He had additional children for their family, my extended family will now include not just Europeans and Arabs, but Africans as well.
And it is not only my extended family that is becoming more diverse but our church family as well. Adoption is one way Calvary looks a little more like heaven, as those circled around God’s throne will reflect all the shades of earth’s ethnicities.
During our recent series in Ephesians, Jim preached a sermon in which he showed a brief clip of our friends, Jason, Amanda and their two grade school daughters, meeting their two sons/brothers in Ethiopia for the first time. We have been friends with Jason and Amanda since Oxford, and we are so grateful for our friendship despite the fact that they in California where Jason teaches at Biola University.
This Thanksgiving, we received a beautiful thanksgiving card with a picture of their family and a link to a video sharing glimpses of their story in bringing Elle and Yuni to be part of their family. I hope you enjoy it.
All is well,
Lisa