So, my friend Laura and I made our way to the Together for Adoption conference this past weekend. I've been avoiding blogging about it simply because I feel like anything I put down will simply be inadequate.
If you have ever thought about adoption, wondered why it's talked about so much in Scripture, know someone who is adopted or adopting, or you are trying to procrastinate on cleaning out your pantry, click on that link above and look at their site. The thing I love most about this group of people running Together for Adoption is that they are keeping it about Jesus. Every speaker that got up there kept the cross at the center of the adoption discussion.
When we went through the adoption process, I understood intimately Christ's redemption and adoption of me as His daughter. The ways that he was working behind my own reality to work to save me. The ways that He put people in my path, He spoke to me in prayer, drew me to Scriptures, put me in a great church, and on and on. He did this to display His glory through the salvation of little ole me. Because even the cross isn't about me. It's about Christ. This was the theme of the conference. We cannot minimize adoption to some philanthropic act. Because Christ first loved us, we have the ability to love the widows and orphans.
The challenge that I give to the Church is that taking care of widows and orphans is not something that should be a side note to our Christian walk. It enables us to have a "pure and undefiled" religion (James 1:27). It displays to a world that as a Christian, we do things that don't make sense. Why? Because the cross doesn't make sense. At least from our earthly sight. And we do things that bring no glory to ourselves, but to Jesus. Because He is worth every second of pain and victory that we experience in adoption.
This was an incredible conference. Next year, it's in Phoenix. I would HIGHLY recommend going. And who wouldn't want to go to Phoenix, really?! You can tell in that picture above that I had cried....a lot. Brad sent me for my birthday and I have to say it's one of my favorite presents from him so far.
