Scripture: Romans 8:15 (ESV) – “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba!  Father!’”

Message: My favorite activity as a child was being Mommy to my dolls.  I spent hours rocking, feeding, and caring for my babies.  For most of my life when anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my instant, earnest answer was a “Mommy”.

It’s no surprise then that early in our marriage, my husband Bruce and I were excited to start our family.  It didn’t happen immediately, but we continued to pray with expectation, trusting in God’s perfect timing. Disappointing months turned into disheartening years.  Finally, one day my despair weighed heavier than my hope.  I turned to the most godly and wise woman I knew, my mother-in-law, Alice.  She held me until the tears slowed, took my face in her hands, and she said, “Maybe it’s time to look into adoption.”  After a long night of praying with Bruce and journaling to the Lord, we woke up the next day on a new, exciting, hope-filled path.

Incredibly, we didn’t have to wait long.  While the decision for us to adopt had taken years, we soon were approved and waiting.  Within weeks we brought home our beautiful daughter, Alison.  A tiny, perfect bundle, she woke up in our home for the first time on Sunday, May 12, 1996, a very happy Mother’s Day indeed.

As an adoptive mother, I’m profoundly aware of both the pain and the joy of adoption.  By its very nature there is loss and sacrifice, yet there is healing and redemption.  With all legal authority of the courts of the land, adoption bestows full rights to the adoptee as a beloved heir.  And that is what God has given us too!  Through the beauty and brokenness of the perfect love story, God offers us adoption – daughtership and sonship – through the death and resurrection of His Son.  God moved heaven and earth for my adoption story, and He moved heaven and earth for yours, too.

Prayer: Abba, Father, thank You that through Your Son, Jesus, we are freed from slavery and fear, and we are welcomed as Your beloved child and heir.  May we always be mindful of Your sacrifice and forever rejoice in Your grace.  Amen.

Leigh O'Donoghue
First Presbyterian Church of Orlando
Orlando, Florida