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Gratitude leads to adoption
After being blessed with two lovely boys of our own, my husband and I cherished the possibility of adding a little girl to our family by way of adoption. We began the application process, and after six months of meetings with a counselor, the waiting period began. I like to think of it as a discovery period. I held on to this citation from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy: “There can be but one creator, who has created all. Whatever seems to be a new creation, is but the discovery of some distant idea of Truth; …” (p. 263 ). I reasoned that since God is the only creator, we weren’t in reality waiting around for a mother to give birth to a baby; rather, we were growing in understanding that this precious idea, already created, would come into our experience as our concept of God’s fatherhood and motherhood grew. It was such a special time of listening and praying.
When sharing our hope of adopting with friends and family, I was surprised by some of the comments we received. However well-intentioned, we were met with, “Oh, you’ll be waiting five or ten years for the infant you are hoping to adopt.” One friend even mentioned she couldn’t love a child that wasn’t her own. I thanked God, divine Love, for the deeper understanding of His allness and the conviction that there really can be only one Parent, God, who fathers and mothers all of us as His children.
Seventeen months passed, and one morning after my husband left for work and our two sons were still sleeping, I sat down to quietly pray. Turning my thoughts to God, I was suddenly overcome with the deepest sense of gratitude for all that He had given us. We had just purchased our first house, and it was everything we had wanted, right down to the outdoor clothesline! I felt so grateful for my new church home and friendships.
Then my thought turned to the adoption. I thought of all the couples waiting and hoping to adopt that didn’t have any other children. I thought of how grateful I was for the two boys, and how complete I felt as a family right that moment. I humbly prayed: “Father, I’m so grateful for the children you sent us to love and care for, and if this adoption doesn’t work out, I want you to know that it’s OK with me, it really is. Thank you so much for loving us every moment. I couldn’t want for more than that.”
It was an amazing feeling to really let go of what we wanted, to let God’s will for us be done. About this time the boys were up, and as I proceeded to set breakfast on the table, the phone rang. It was our counselor from the agency with the news that a baby girl, two days old, was waiting for us. And what a gift our daughter has been. This joyful adoption of good took place 33 years ago, and the tremendous blessing learned of “letting go and letting God” stays with me today.
Karen Rose Banks
Priest River, Idaho, US
January 14, 2013 issue
View Issue-
Letters
Barbara Chapline Waldner, JSH-Online comments
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On family, children, and faith
Katie Martin
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Fear not, little flock
Vicki Turpen
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To 'hold crime in check'
Lynn Buckley-Quirk
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A God's-eye view
Diane S. Staples
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Three L's for Life
Jill Gooding
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Love—the road to eternal life
Kathleen Collins
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Take a spiritual walk
Madelon Maupin
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Bible translations: old & new
Roy Gessford, E. Ann Wild, Eduardo Torfer
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God—always #1
Carter
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Safe in the rainforest
Sapphire Johnston
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No longer 'stuck,' but healed
Wendy Landry
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Teeth back to normal
Holly Wayman
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Symptoms of food poisoning gone
Bruce Higley
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Gratitude leads to adoption
Karen Rose Banks
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God's law of completion
The Editors