Adoption and Evangelism

"Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved," Ephesians 1:4-6

I love these verses. They are short and account for a very small percentage of the Bible as a whole, but they are so rich and full and I could go on and on about them for hours. Trust me, just ask any of the nine or ten year olds running around church. :) You can also ask them what, besides salvation, justification, and the start of sanctification, happens at the moment of conversion. If they are not too shy to answer, they should all be able to reply, "Adoption!"
Adoption is a beautiful, rich, and often overlooked part of salvation. As Christians we have not simply ceased to be the enemies of God, but we have become His adopted sons and daughters. We are free to come to him as a child comes to her father, full of love and confidence. Although we often refer to ourselves as "children of God" we very rarely take the time to consider what this means. I was struck by this fact a few years ago when I received the new curriculum for my Sunday School class, which has a couple lessons near the beginning of the semester that focus on adoption. It has been on my mind greatly since then and I can honestly say that I have grown much (and am continuing to grow) in love for it since then. This is one of the main reasons that I have, in the past year, become very fixed on the idea of adoption here on earth.
Those of you who know me well are thinking, "Oh no, she's on her soap box again!" But our church has been given a very unique opportunity to participate in a close relative of adoption - foster care - and I want to do my part to help convince you to participate in it.
The biggest and most important argument for foster care and adoption that I have is evangelism. We have a huge opportunity to reach out to young children in our community who desperately need someone to care for them. And what better care can they receive than from Christians? Where are you going to find a better or easier opening for evangelism? You will be taking a child (or children) in, loving them, treating them as your own, caring for their needs, etc. They will have less than perfect parents, otherwise they wouldn't be in foster care, and you can preach to them of the perfect Father who never disappoints, always forgives, and can never leave or abandon His children.
We have an awesome opportunity here to have great impact on the lives of children. Foster homes are not good places in general to grow up in. I have a friend who spent most of her life in foster homes and she has told me some pretty heartbreaking stories. We can give these children a safe place to live, food to eat, love to experience, and the hope of the gospel that will follow them even after they are no longer with us. Yes, this will mean making great sacrifice on our end, as Jasmine pointed our for us yesterday, but as she also said (and I whole-heartedly concur), Girls, its worth it!
Now, I firmly believe that children should have both a father and a mother, or I would have gone out and adopted a child by now. However, this will have to wait until (if) the Lord provides me with a husband. In the mean time, He has given me the opportunity of foster care. Again, I cannot take in a child myself, for one, I still live with my parents! However, I am getting certified, partly to get my foot in the door and make myself known to the social workers and judges, and also in order to help anyone else who has decided to get certified. I will be able to babysit and assist in any way you need. So there you go folks, if you become foster parents you already have a babysitter lined up. :)
I urge you to prayerfully consider the possibility of foster care with your families. Thursday, I will give you three more arguments for foster care.