Adoption: The Privilege and The Cost

Our last meeting was on September 18.  The Robinsons did an excellent job of sharing how their adoption journey over the past 25 years has been a privilege mixed with pain.  They showed us clearly that God has worked in their life to bring beauty out of brokenness.  I had hoped to video tape their talk but I had technical difficulties.  Recently I ran across a couple of resources that I would like to share in the vein of, "The Privilege and The Cost."

First, is a video put out by Empowered to Connect.  Dr. Karyn Purvis shares about "Counting The Cost of the Journey."  Here is their synopsis:

The adoption and foster care journey is filled with joy, blessings and beauty. But it is a journey also marked by loss, pain and challenges of various kinds. As a result we must be mindful to 'count the cost' of traveling this journey. Watch as Dr. Karyn Purvis encourages parents to 'count the cost" as they engage the adoption and foster care journey in a way that leads to hope and healing.

Counting the Cost of the Journey from Tapestry on Vimeo.

The second resource is a blog post by Russell Moore.  The title of the post is "Don't Adopt."  That sounds a bit harsh but I encourage you to read the post and catch his heart.  Here is a short snippet from his post:

If you want your “dream baby,” do not adopt or foster a child: buy a cat and make-believe. Adopting an orphan isn’t ordering a consumer item or buying a pet. Such a mindset hurts the child, and countless other children and families. Adoption is about taking on risk as cross-bearing love. 

For years, I’ve called Christian churches and families to our James 1:27 mandate to care for widows and orphans in their distress, to live out the adoption we’ve received in the gospel by adopting and fostering children. At the same time, I’ve maintained that, while every Christian is called to care for orphans and widows, not every Christian is called to adopt or foster. As a matter of fact, there are many who, and I say this emphatically, should not....