Way Back Wednesday

A little over a year ago YaYa was Christened in the mountains of Nevada. We couldn't have felt any closer to God than we did that day.

 

We were blessed to have both sets of grandparents with us as well as some very good friends of ours from Wyoming. 

 Our friend Fred performed her Christening. We felt he was perfect for this occasion 1st because he is an ordained minister. Second, his ministry has focused on working with men and women in prison. Third, because he and his wife had been with us from the beginning of our journey to parenthood. Last and most important, we didn't want just anyone performing her Christening. We wanted someone who knew us and her story. All of it.

Fred's sermon was in reference to us all being God’s adopted children through salvation and how being adopted makes us all extra special. Fred read scripture about Esther's life and included the lesson below. Esther herself was adopted and her story illustrates the gift of adoption for us all. It was said back then that a child born into a family could be given away or disowned but a child who was adopted was a family member forever. In God’s eyes, we are all his adopted children. Remembering these 3 truths of adoption will help us grasp the unique significance of it.

First: The adoption process best models the way people enter God's family. Families with adopted children are living illustrations of sal­vation. Like adoptive parents, who reach into humanity and choose a child—and not on the child's merit—God has mercifully reached out and said, "You're unique, and you're Mine."

Second: Adopted children often become God's special instruments. As He did with Esther, God sometimes chooses adopted children to fulfill His special purposes. Their destinies have been changed! Many have been preserved, rescued from dire circumstances in order that they may fulfill God's purposes in the light of His love.

Third: People who are touched by the adopted realize how profound God's plan is. If you've brushed lives with adopted children or adults, you have been given a glimpse into the graciousness of God's redemp­tive design.

Like an adopted child who was not aborted but given a new lease on life, our destinies were altered when we became part of God's fam­ily. The individual pearls of our lives have been threaded together to form a beautiful necklace of purpose and meaning. We have been saved from death and have been chosen instead to live abundantly in Jesus Christ.

The text in bold was taken from a piece of literature. I would love to reference it but unfortunately didn't get the name of the study from Fred. Thank you for allowing me to share this with you while also taking a walk down memory lane.