In elementary school, one of the rituals of going to the playground was allowing boys named captains to choose who would be on their team. I was scrawny and slow growing, so I never got chosen until last. Needless to say, I lived up to their expectations.

When it came to adoption, however, I found that we had the right to choose children. The idea that we could “choose” struck us as strange in view of the fact that natural parents do not “choose” their birth children. We prayed that the Lord would lead us to the children who were to become part of our family. That prayer was answered the day my wife fell in love with the picture of twin Russian boys. I knew that this could not have been by chance.

Our sons eventually got the choice to become part of our family when they were asked by the adoption court judge if they wanted to be adopted. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds. They were giving up an old way of life in the hope that the unknown future offered something better if they agreed. Since they didn’t really know what a family was like, this was quite a gamble. However, their choice to be adopted was already predated by our choice of them to be the ones we would adopt.

When it comes to being God’s children, it amazes me that God chooses those He wants to adopt (Ephesians 1:4-5). That means that God chose me before I had the opportunity to choose Him. His choice of me was based on only one quality (His, not mine)—His love for me. I still revel in the fact that God loved me enough to choose me to be His son before I could even realize that there was a choice! And it wasn’t based on any character quality of mine (past, present, or future) that God made this choice.

If you are God’s child, realize that God has chosen you to be His own. We have sought to share this truth with our adopted sons, so that they would feel secure in His love and in ours. Once they knew that we had really chosen them (not just any orphans), they felt affirmed in our love for them. How have you communicated your choice of your adopted child(ren) to him/her/them? Please share a story of how you have witnessed this work out in the lives.