Adoption | Walking in Community...
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 2:29PM
Andy Lehman (andy@lifesongfororphans.org) in Adoption, Church Orphan Ministry, Foster Care, Spiritual Life

The adoption journey can be thrilling on one hand...and have struggles on the other hand.  So what do we do about that?

Scott and Annie McClellan share their journey through this excerpt from their blog...

 

I just finished a book for the Tapestry, the Adoption and Foster Care Ministry at our church, women’s bookclub. We read the book Carried Safely Home by Kristin Swick Wong. As I finished the book this Monday, one passage spoke to me and our current ups and downs….

“All who choose to enter adoption choose to open themselves to pain. We can choose to embrace the grief inherent in the journey, letting it mold us to be more like Jesus. We need not deny pain. We need not oversimplify complex questions. We need not fear when something in God’s word or world is difficult to understand and embrace. These heart struggles can push us to new ground in our relationship with God. May we be given grace to accept such struggles when they come, and not shrink back from where the Lord wants to bring us. Though it may be hard to sing in the thick of distress, at the end we will certainly look back and declare ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness.’”

We definitely feel like we are in the thick of it, but we are anticipating our time of rejoicing.

 

 Scott and Annie have allowed their adoption journey to be an "open book" by walking it in community with others through Tapestry Adoption/Foster Ministry.

They have not tried to be "independent" or an "island unto themselves" and "go it alone"

Instead they have fully embraced their dependence on God and on others, and in doing so, they have seen God grow them and others...

Their adoption journey is a God-story in the making with their name on it...

and it is a beautiful example of why the church has the opportunity to create intentional, carved out spaces for adoptive and foster families - and the support that happens when the church is active here...

Article originally appeared on Reflections: Lifesong Blog | Andy Lehman (http://lifesong.squarespace.com/).
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