Tuesday, December 21, 2010

In Spite of Who We Are

My husband and I are in the process of obtaining our adoption-foster care license. We’ve been pursuing this for the past 6 months. God just didn't think we had enough crazy in our life so he called us to this too. I previously wrote about our God-inspired journey. If you would like to read more, click here.

Our last appointment with the social worker is this morning. The paperwork is mountainous. The classes are time consuming. The extra babysitting fees are inconvenient.

But God.

But God… has a plan, has a purpose, and has a way.

My husband and I sit around the kitchen table scribbling across the pages and checking the appropriate boxes on our “Child Acceptance Survey” packet. These answers convey to social services what type of behaviors and/or characteristics we are willing to accept in an adoptive child. We are to mark each section with preferred, acceptable, would consider, and unacceptable.

There is an endless list of heart wrenching disorders: seizure disorder, blindness, difficulty attaching to others, sexual abuse, conceived out of rape, etc.

I think to myself, “Thank goodness God loves us just the way we are.”

As my black ballpoint pen scratches the surface of each page, God speaks.

I don’t love you just the way you are. I love you in spite of who you are.”

God loves us in spite of our imperfections, mistakes, flaws, messes, rough edges, and disobedience.

To me, that makes the gift of grace so much more wonderful. Don’t you think?

This beautiful insight into God’s love inspires me to rethink how I love other people. God fine tunes my heart strings. My heart shifts from neutral driving me to a place where love comingles with acceptance.

God urges me to think more like he does—to love even though problems will arise, even though perfection will never be reached, even though hard times might be ahead, even though I may want to pull my last hair out, and even though I might feel like giving up.

Finding God while filling out a survey doesn’t surprise me. It’s so comforting knowing that God’s divine presence can fill even the smallest, most mundane moments in life.

Whether we’re sittin' in our kitchen, sippin' a peppermint mocha (my favorite), or servin' at a homeless shelter, God is there to show us how to love others the way He first loved us.

in spite of who we are.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, italics added).

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9 comments:

  1. Great post! My husband and I have been praying about adoption for awhile now. I know it is a ton of work and even heart ache but it is also a beautiful blessing.

    Praise God He loves us in spite of who we are and what we do.

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  2. How awesome that God not only loves us just as we are, but He loves us in spite of who we are. That scripture in Romans in one of my favorites - we were still sinners; still far away from God and before we knew we needed a Savior, Christ died for us. Incredible!

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  3. I love this truth about Him... "God loves us in spite of our imperfections, mistakes, flaws, messes, rough edges, and disobedience." I also love how He takes our messes and turns them around for good. He makes us better and glorifies Himself in the process. I praying for you as you go through this adoption process and I can't wait to see what He does! Love you!!

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  4. Many prayers as you enter into His will to care for His precious children!

    ~Tamara

    ...Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope that you will enjoy the Blueberry Jello dessert as much as we do :)

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  5. I wanted to also say, "Thank you for the prayers for my daughter." We greatly appreciate all the prayers.

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  6. I like this "It’s so comforting knowing that God’s divine presence can fill even the smallest, most mundane moments in life." So true. He is constantly teaching us things and affirming His love for us during those ordinary times in our lives...although I wouldn't actually consider filling out adoption paperwork ordinary :) It's beautiful and brave. Lovely post.

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  7. Amazing! You AND this post! With all your family has been through this year - God Bless you. I'm so glad our great big God carries us through whatever each season brings. He honors our effort when it's done with a sincere heart and I'm just praying His special blessings on you and your family.
    Thank you (and Heidi) so much for taking the time to read my blog and leave your sweet comments.
    Love you guys!
    Debbie

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  8. As someone who has also gone through the process to foster-adopt, (we are on the matching list now), I just want to offer you encouragement that the paperwork and classes do end and then the faith-walk really begins as you wait for your match. I believe God loves foster children so much and wants us to love them too. God bless you on your journey!! :)

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  9. This was a beautiful post that touched my soul. Thank you! God bless you for taking this on!

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