Twelve Reasons Adoption is Good for the Believer…

I’ll start off by saying that I did NOT come up with the following. It was written by David Leventhal at his blog http://davidleventhal.org/2010/12/05/twelve-reasons but it is well worth re-posting!

Twelve reasons adoption is good for the believer…
December 5, 2010 by David Leventhal

Let me say upfront that first & foremost, adoption is about finding the right family for a child (& not vice versa). It is about providing permanency for another human being. (i could not agree more!)

That being said, there are a lot of other secondary benefits for those who are led to adopt. If someone came to me with one of these reasons as their primary reason or motivation for adopting I would encourage them to tap the brakes because, as I said above, adoption is first about providing a home for an infant/child/teenager. But like many things in life there are layers of benefits.

Here are 12 secondary reasons why I believe adoption is good for the Christ-follower:

1. Adoption & the adoption process provide a venue to trust God like few other things can

2. Adoption is a visible picture of the Gospel – adopted children are brought into the family & receive all the blessings, rights & inheritance of the biological children

3. Adoption enables us to enter into the pain, loss & grief of another human being which is good for our hearts & soul

4. Adoption reminds us that we are not put on this earth for ourselves – we are here to serve, especially those who have no voice

5. Adoption is what God has been up to ever since Genesis 3 – setting the lonely in His family

6. Adoption teaches our children, both biological & adopted (& the local church – HT @schneidleraj), that God’s people look out for those who cannot look out for themselves – it’s just what we should be doing

7. Adoption forces us to confront our motivations, beliefs and expectations about how we build our family

8. Adoption demonstrates that love is a choice, not a fleeting emotion

9. Adoption is one of God’s answer for the orphan…one day there will be no more orphans, but for today adoption is needed

10. Adoption helps foster compassion

11. Adoption is infectious – those who watch a family go through the adoption process will be more likely to process it for themselves

12. Adoption teaches perseverance & endurance because it can be hard – really, really hard
Are there any that you feel I’ve missed? What would you add to this list?

This sums up perfectly why we’re doing what we are doing.