In Ephesians 1:5 (NLT) we read, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” We all know we are adopted into the family of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, but how many in this world fully know how precious it is that we have been “adopted as sons and daughters”? And, how many fully understand that our adoption is His desire and brings Him great pleasure?

Let me share a story of my own personal experiences…​

One time when I was in school a fellow classmate told me that my mother mentioned to her mother that I was her adopted daughter. I was shocked and felt heartache. I knew that this was a lie but it still brought sadness to me. It was a lie that was made up simply so that my family could gain some help in a moment of need. And it did work because the story made my classmate’s mother have compassion for us. Why would this have caused her to have compassion? Truly I tell you, the place and the time in which I grew up was influenced by an old culture. People believe that if a person was adopted then it must be because they were also abandoned before. People did not view it as something to bring joy to a family because they had a new member, but instead just someone who was a second hand choice. While this view may not be true in other cultures and area, for me, this meant that I was not precious in mother’s heart in the way I desired to be. This also created a hard path for me in school. It became one more reason for people to dislike me and one more way for them to bully me.

In that moment, the only way I view adoption was a something negative.

Because of my childhood, I began to believe that I was an alien and I placed here on earth as part of some experiment. Once the experiment was finished, I would be able to go home. But, at the time I had no real idea of where my home was.

But the story does not end there for me…

“He said, ‘Go and tell this people: “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”’’ (Isaiah 6:9-10, NIV)

Thank you Father for I am a new creation through Christ, and His truth has healed me and I am no longer blind and deaf. Now, I understand with my heart. I no longer view things like I did, and I am no longer swayed by the talk of culture. What I see, what I hear, and what I know, is the truth from the Word of God.

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 9:15, NIV)

The day Adam and Eve made the decision to take control of their life, they fell. They were moved from the Garden of Eden where they had perfect relationship with the Father, to the fallen world. All truth began to be twisted and darkness came. No matter how hard they tried to be perfect, they never could. They were separated from Him, and no one could see the Father’s face, or walk side by side with Him in the garden anymore. This was the separation, the separation between the Father and the children who He created. Does this also mean that we have been in some way abandoned? If we read the definition of the word abandoned we will see that it means to cease to support or look after and give up completely. Based on the definition of the word, the answer we can find in the Bible is that God never ever abandoned us. His word is trustworthy and many times He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Through Jesus, we are redeemed into relationship with Him once again! After Adam and Eve, we may born in the flesh, but through Christ we are also reborn in His Spirit. We become His family through Christ, being adopted we become the brothers and sisters of Jesus.

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Romans 8:17, NIV)

“Adopted child” no longer means something negative to me, but instead it is something of great valuable.

Also, the way I believe that I was an alien and desired to go home no longer means something that is sad, but instead a thing to bring hope.

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners (alien) and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household.” (Ephesians 2:19, NIV)

In the same way that we know what it means to be adopted into the Kingdom of heaven, we should know that being an “adopted child” in this world has the same value. We should see the prospective of God by His Word. The one who lost a part of their identity has now been found and made whole. They know where they belong.

Let me share one last story…

When God brought me back to the man He created for me, I knew that my son and I had been chosen by God to join in this new family. This should have been God’s original plan if we had not rebelled against Him from the beginning. Yet, the legal process of adoption in this world is more complicated and there are many different steps in order for it to happen. There is a cost involved monetarily, physically and emotionally that we need to pay, but we pursue it with faith. Compared to the cost Jesus paid for us to become His, the cost is in fact small. The joy and excitement in the heart of my son as well as us as parents is great. I am ready to throw a big celebration party when the day to comes that it is over!

We are blessed because we have been chosen and adopted and are called the children of God!onal experiences…​