A Special Day

I received an invitation a couple weeks ago to attend the adoption ceremony for a family in our church.  When asked where it would be, I was told to meet them at the Family Services building near the county courthouse.  Beside having to park a quarter mile away, when you enter the concrete building "family" is the last thing that comes to mind.  Security guards, metal detectors, x-ray scanners, and stairs leading down to our appointed room.  Downstairs the hallways are dreary, there is more concrete, and the waiting room is filled with those plastic chairs with curve in the seat but provide little to no comfort. 

My friend Mike is married to Sara, but Sara's daughter came from a previous relationship.  Mike and Sara became followers of Jesus in the winter, were baptized several weeks later and have been growing in their faith since.  This adoption ceremony is the final beautiful step in completing their new family unit, both in spirit and by the letter of the law. 

The courtroom door finally opens and we are led inside.  It is a big informal room and the judge is sitting in her traditional place up front behind the bench.  More concrete is present and a lot of legal jargon is heard.  As I sit there I find myself pondering the irony of God.  He authored adoption, making a way for each of us to join His family and yet on earth it is this cold dreary place which gives adoption legal authority.

I have been adopted by my Father in heaven and the more I realize the truth of that, the greater the impact it has on me and in my life.  Julie and I think the world of adoption and bringing an outsider into your family in the name of Jesus Christ.  So here is our friend Mike who has been Ella's father for some time now, waiting to make Ella his daughter in the eyes of the law as well.

As the judge concluded the proceedings with the parental oath of adoption all of a sudden this dreary and cold room began to fade away.  Even as I knew exactly what was coming, when the words were said, "Do you promise to take Ella as your own as if she had been born to you?", I was choked up with emotion at the seriousness of the moment.  Mike too was choked up a bit and for good reason.  He realized the seriousness of the commitment he was making to a little girl and the impact that is going to have on her life for the duration of her life. 

Who would have thought that this dreary, concrete building could possess something so powerful.  More so, look at the power of something that God has created...adoption...and see that in spite of its surroundings, the activities of God to redeem a lost world and the lost people therein are powerful beyond walls and buildings.  It was a real gift to be able to witness that ceremony.  I am reminded afresh of what God must have felt in that moment when He first adopted me...