Why Did You Adopt
My husband, Tim, and I were recently asked to answer the question, “Why did you adopt?”
Please allow me to back up, and give some context. Tim and I have two biological children. Titan is 15, and Clare is 13 years old. Even while I was expecting Titan, Tim and I had a great desire to add to our family through adoption. At that point in time, the thought of voluntarily inserting ourselves into Child Protective Services (CPS) was daunting, at best, and seemed unwise. We thought that as believers, connecting with CPS could/would potentially bring danger into our home.
Fast forward with us 10 years. Godly friends of ours had begun to walk the adoption road through foster care. As we prayed with them through the process, we realized what a light for Christ they had within the world of CPS. We learned of the GREAT number of kids that are in need of godly, loving homes. We were seeing played out - right in our community - the need for believers to rise up and “care for the fatherless” (Jas. 1:27).
Once we began training, within 90 days, our home had been approved, and Tim and I were licensed foster parents. Just four days later, the Lord brought to us our Bonnie. She was seven months old when we brought her home. Three years later, we adopted her as a Mcphillips forever! After providing some respite care for another little guy, we got a call for a three day old little girl. After just one year, we adopted Eleanor as a Mcphillips forever. Another 3 months went by, and Bonnie’s baby sister was born. Tim and I brought home our Noelle at just two days old. Lord willing, this March will be Noelle’s adoption finalization. Let me do a little roll call for you: Titan is now 15, Clare is 13, Bonnie is 3, Eleanor is 18 months, and Noelle is 15 months. Please praise God with us! That is three adoptions into the McPhillips family in only 8 months! What a gift!
But why? Why would we basically start over again? To answer the question I mentioned in the beginning, we gave three reasons, amongst others, why we have adopted.
1. To meet the cultural need
As we looked around us, we saw that the need to care for the fatherless is greater than ever, and only increasing. We see from Scripture (Genesis, Deuteronomy, James, and many other places) that the responsibility to care for these children falls on the Church. Yet, we see our culture rising up to care for them where the church should be involved. One of the arguments for the Pro-choice movement is, “Where are the people to receive these children when the babies are born?” That call is largely being answered by people with a secular worldview.
2. To meet the gospel need
Being a Resource Family, as it is called, means that we have numerous opportunities to rub shoulders with CPS and the county in which we live. In our home and ministry, we have claimed Acts 28:31: “Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding.” We began this foster-adoption process asking the Lord to give us open doors to share the gospel with those to whom we would come in contact. The Lord has answered that request with many opportunities to share the Good News. We have had a unique relationship with the transport worker that used to take Bonnie to and from her visits with her birth mom. She would spend hours with us in our home just visiting, and because of that, the Lord allowed us many occasions to share with her that our home is different because of the gospel.
Tim and I praise God for the relationship He has allowed us to have with Bonnie and Noelle’s birth mom. I text with her on a regular basis, and through that communication, I have had a couple of opportunities to share with her the gospel and her need to be redeemed. Today, she claims to be a child of God, and we continue to pray for the fruit of a believer to be displayed.
The avenue whereby we are the most passionate in helping to meet the gospel need through fostering and adopting is by taking every opportunity to teach these three extra blessings about their Creator, and His will for them to call on Him to save them (2 Pet. 3:9). Raising Bonnie, Eleanor, and Noelle in our home means that we have uninterrupted time to share with them about Jesus.
3. To meet the need of the local church responsibility
As I mentioned earlier, the Church has pretty much shirked its responsibility when it comes to caring for the fatherless. In recent times, we see that there is a return to fostering and adopting from those in the Church, and that is exciting, but there is much work to be done. In our county alone, there are thousands of kids in the foster system that need to be in godly, loving homes. If you consider the many counties across this nation, the number of kids in need is vast. This is a problem in our country, and being willing to open our homes to these children is a tangible way the Church can rise up and carry out its mission to care for the fatherless.
I would love to encourage you to prayerfully consider what your involvement in this mission could be. Husbands and wives, would you spend some time in prayer, asking the Lord if your home could be the safe place for a hurting child to live, to receive the love of Christ, and the opportunity to hear the Good News of the gospel?
You may be saying, “That is not our home.” That is okay! We understand that not every home can welcome another child, but there are many ways all believers can serve. Some of the greatest blessings we have received throughout this process have been the encouragement and prayers of those in our church. The foster and adoptive experience has many highs and many lows. Every case is unique. We can come together around our Christian brother or sister and offer to babysit, bring a meal, or speak truth to them as they walk this challenging road. In our story, it is so encouraging and sanctifying to have the family of God cheer us on.
How can you help meet the need to care for the fatherless?
