It has been three weeks since our kids moved into our home. I could not sufficiently explain the joy and fun that has filled our hearts and home over the last few weeks but joyful and fun it has been.

I remember hearing from countless people on the subject of the priority you lose upon welcoming children into your home. Whether through biological means or adoption, people love babies. You are no longer of any importance once grand-babies enter the scene. And for me, that’s fine! This is one of those “good problem” situations. I rejoice in that.

For instance: I show up at my wife’s school the day after they throw a shower for us and everyone meets the kids. Where I used to be welcomed with compliments of how sweet of a husband I was to make the drive to see her, I am now welcomed with an immediate “where’s the babies?!”

More seriously, the way that these two children have been welcomed and treated with love has got me thinking about my own adoption into the family of God.

For over a year, up to the last few weeks, these children were technically labelled as “homeless.” Now, they spent a great and rich amount of time in the home of a wonderful family who fostered them and gave such Christ-reflecting love and care to them. But by definition and variables of the situation, they were still floating around without a place to legally call home. They even possessed the name of a mom and dad who chose worldly pleasures over the well-being of their children. Putting it that way, it seems like an overall sad and heartbreaking situation.

And then something happened. Not only did they receive the love and welcoming embrace of me and my wife, but they have received the embrace of being part of a family. Not just a “mommy & daddy” family but a community of people close to us, acting as a family, who love them deeply. A family that would already do anything for them. A family that will remain and a family that will bear burdens, wipe tears, and ultimately one to belong to forever.

I have thought a lot about the way these two children have been welcomed into a family. I have thought about the reality of their hopeless condition prior to the intervention of, first, the foster family and now us and the multitude of people caring for them.

I have always been blown away by what Christ says in John 15:
No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

We were orphans hopeless and alone. And then came the intervening, pre-determined, pre-planned miracle of our own adoption into the family of God. Just as our two kids now have this beautiful network of people that we have connected them with, we have been connected to the family of God through the gracious intervention of a perfect savior.

There are many rich theological truths to be drawn from John 15 yet the thought that overwhelms me and stops me in my tracks is that we are no longer referred to as servants, but as friends.

The thought has ran over and over in my head that, very soon, no longer will these children be labelled as something by the state but as bearers of my name. Officially, legally, and lovingly they will be Brewers. And not only will they be Brewers, they will fully enjoy every privilege that comes with being a Brewer.

As children of God and believers in the risen Christ, we partake in all that entails. We sleep with peace, and we live with purpose and joy. Ultimately and most excitingly, we are children of God and are members of the largest and most meaningful network of family and friends that one could ever enjoy. Through faith granted to us, we are now and forever connected with Christ.

This is just one of the many aspects of adoption that theologically relate to our relationship with God. I look forward to sharing more of those with you!

If you have questions about adoption or what it takes to become a home open for fostering, please contact me at ndbrewer@me.com.