Inspirations on Adoption (Part 1)

by Shelley McCraw

Like most things in my life, I make plans, but God directs my steps. My plans never included adoption, but I'm grateful He guided my steps toward this incredibly fulfilling yet challenging journey.

I am the mother of five children. The oldest three are “home-grown” and the younger two are “hand-picked,” as in chosen. Ten years separates the youngest of the older three and the oldest of the younger two. Trust me, it wasn’t in my plan to have children a decade apart in age. Who would do that to themselves? Yet, this journey has revealed God’s heart for me in ways I didn’t understand prior to adoption. I have a deeper understanding of my position as His child and the realization of all the benefits that come with being adopted into His family.

When the possibility of adoption first entered my life, I certainly wasn’t looking for it. I was busy. Really busy. I was a wife, a mother of three kids who were involved in everything, and a real estate agent. Although busy, I was comfortable, content and wasn’t looking to add anything else to my life.

During this season, a few of my close friends were in the process of adopting. I was happy to support their efforts by helping them fundraise. I bought t-shirts, read blogs to learn other ways to “be there” for them, and I prayed for them and their soon-to-be children. For the first time in my life, I was thinking about children other than my own. Children who were without a family or in need of someone to stand in the gap until their family could get on their feet. My eyes were opened and something began to stir in my heart.

I thought of a million reasons why I shouldn’t, why I couldn’t allow myself to be moved to the point of actually doing something about what I had seen. We didn’t have time, our budget was tight, our schedules were already ridiculously busy, and my children were older which meant our nest would be empty in a short eight years. Logically thinking, it just didn’t make sense.

Perhaps you understand that feeling because you have felt that tug before as well. You’ve thought the same thing. I can’t tell you how many times I questioned my own sanity. Yet, when it’s truly God, the feelings, thoughts, or impressions seldom go away, and what was once deemed illogical somehow becomes logical. In fact, the very reasons for not acting, become stepping stones of faith to step out and do what you know is yours to do.