There are many high points in adoption, including the day that we are told that our adoption has been finalized. We still recall our emotions when, as we sat in the courtroom in another country, we were told we had crested that mountain top!

However, I was to learn that the best part of adoption had yet to come. No, it was not winning the battles of our adopted sons’ acceptance of us. It wasn’t even the day that they accepted Jesus as their personal Savior and were baptized (as significant as that was).

No, the best part of adoption was seeing our children become adults and making good choices. That told us that they had moved beyond their past and become responsible adults. This was not an overnight occurrence, but a process. It was the result of cumulative decisions made by us and them to make the adoption work. We recognized it when our sons married women we loved.

What we discovered was that the actual adoption was one step in a long journey. Adoption made us a family, but it remained to be seen what kind of family that would be. We had the usual struggles of any family, but also the unusual ones that accompany adoption. Many times we, the parents, blamed ourselves for what our children did. But human beings are more complex than we thought, and we needed to give our sons room to learn and grow.

There were many times when we had to ask for assistance. We could not be sure which way to go. We learned what becoming parents meant. It took all the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control we could muster. There had been wounds left by their birth parents that only time could heal.

God deals with us in a similar fashion as our adoptive Father. He is in the process of changing us so that we will conform to the character of Jesus. This does not happen instantly. He gently changes our desires so that we make choices that please Him. He sees the final step in our adoption, when the Holy Spirit whom He has given us will usher us into His presence.

What about you? What has been the best part of your adoption so far? Feel free to leave a comment on this blog. I would love to hear from you!