Mary and Joseph were betrothed to be married. In that culture of arranged marriages, likely their families had been friends. A big wedding was planned. But there was a snag. Mary became suddenly pregnant. Baby Boomers were the first generation to learn about “birth...
There are many Bible writers I hope to meet in heaven, but close to the top of that list is Luke. Luke was a physician, and I am a physician. Luke and I are both Gentile believers in Jesus, but Luke—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—set out on the task of...
We had hoped that our adoption would come with no struggles. Not true! Our sons continued to struggle with their self-worth throughout their teen years, and formed peer friendships with other boys who had similar issues. The rebellion continued to grow while we waited...
We are confronted with choices all around us. We are bombarded by them in TV advertisements as well as when we go to the grocery store. We have curated apps on our phones to help us choose a particular product and order it. But what if we didn’t have so many choices?...
Our sons were typical children in many ways. They loved to eat and play. But they also kept wanting more. They wanted to play soccer, they wanted to have bikes to ride, and they hated doing homework. The one lesson we found most difficult to teach was how to be...
One of the challenges of adoption is thinking you know what you don’t already know. We read all the books about adoption that we could get our hands on before our adoption was finalized. This gave us a false sense of security, thinking that we knew what we were...
We were not totally prepared for the costs of our adoption as parents. That is not to say that there was not full disclosure by the agency about the money involved. We struggled to come up with the money, the bulk of which was paid at the time we traveled overseas to...
When we first adopted our sons, we debated whether or not to give them new names. We finally decided not to keep their foreign names, although they are part of their new middle names (reflecting their heritage). Choosing a name for your adopted child can be one of the...
We are not sure who invented the sandwich (was it the “Earl of Sandwich”?), but it is estimated that Americans consume 300 million sandwiches every day. We even describe our lives as “sandwiched” between birth and death. Paul pointed to our adoption by the Heavenly...
It was just another day in our lives, until we tried to open our garage door. As it turned out, one of the wires to the opener broke/fell off, and not only were we unable to open the door electrically but we were unable to disengage the door from the tractor and open...
Our sons played soccer in junior high and high school. While neither was a star forward, we encouraged them to play this sport because it provided an outlet for their energy, making sure that they were able to run up and down the field. One of them opted out of soccer...
We don’t see ourselves as time passes, and we don’t realize how much we have changed. Thirty years ago, my wife and I walked down the aisle of the church to exchange our wedding vows. We could not have anticipated what would happen in the following years. Adopting our...
It didn’t take very long for our sons to take to water. They had been in an orphanage near a shore where the director took all the children for a week each summer. And they learned to swim very quickly when they started lessons while going to the swimming pool in...
It happened again. The washing machine created a cacophony in the laundry room because it was lurching as it spun the clothes after the wash cycle. This could only mean that it was overloaded. That meant that I had to stop what I was doing and adjust the clothes in...
I recently visited Africa. The major city’s temperature average was 85 degrees F (28 C), with near 100% relative humidity. I had a constant battle with the heat, and struggled to drink enough to stay hydrated. In spite of this, I found myself suffering heat exhaustion...
Winds whistled around the house and gusts whipped our trees surrounding it. These gusty 40-50 miles per hour winds have become common where we live and frequently cause damage to large trees in our yard, with medium- and small-sized branches being blown off the trees....
Spring is the time for birds to return. Not only does their flight gather our fancy, but the realization of how many different kinds there are. Since they cannot hibernate, they must seek warmer climates during the winter. But spring brings the promise of new life...
From the outset, our intention was to use adoption as a means of growing a family. But what did that mean? A set of meaningful relationships, or a set of traditions, or just having children to prove that we were normal parents? There is some similar confusion about...
We started our adoption journey for the same reason that many people do—we were unable to conceive naturally. We had studied the Scriptures on this, and felt that it was up to God to open up a woman’s womb if He wanted her to give birth to a child. While there were...
Twas the day after Christmas, and the tree which had recently looked so regal now stood barren. Ornaments removed, the Christmas tree was as bare as the trees that had shed their leaves outside of our house. It was time to haul the tree away to the recyclers....
This year has been the season for hurricanes. With little warning or time for preparation, they arrive on land with fierce winds and rain. The voracious force of these storms consumes everything in their path. This can be like our adopted children, especially when...
Recently the project to replace streets in our housing subdivision got underway on our street. The first step was the demolition of the old street and the removal of the debris. Breaking up concrete is a noisy and dirty process, with no picture of what our future...
We might call it “getting even,” but siblings have a form of rivalry where one child feels the right to extract something from the others when they feel violated. It may start with sharing of toys, but rapidly progresses to other forms of payback (such as getting a...
In spring and summer weeds pop up all over our yard. It is a never-ending battle with nature to keep these pesky plants from taking root in our flowerbeds. Each rain we get causes more of them to appear in areas we have just cleared. As a Christian, I can point to the...
The start of fifth grade was a milestone for our two sons. They started attending a new school, adjusting to new friends and a new teacher. The teacher had taught fifth grade for many years, and mastered the art of getting to know each pupil and motivating them to...
It was a normal Saturday morning, and time to do the laundry again, especially since there were stains on some of the clothing. Into the washer the dirty clothes went! Afterwards, I was happy to see what water and a little soap could do! We struggled in the early...
It was dark and turning cooler. Then lightning and thunder started. Later, fierce wind and rolling thunder woke us up from deep sleep, as we listened to the storm unleash its fury. The darkness of midnight made the storm feel stronger. A lot of moments in adoption...
Did we choose to follow God, or did He choose us to be His followers?
Ever have one of those times when you walked into a store and got more than you bargained for? It happened again yesterday, where we bought some gifts in a local shop, and they threw in some extras—lagniappe, as the folks from Louisiana would say. It’s an expression...
There are a few times in life when words cannot express the feelings and thoughts in our minds. It is as if there is a broken power line between our spirits and hearts and our minds. These moments came for us as we interacted with our sons during their adoption. While...
“Courage isn't having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don't have strength,” said Napolean Bonaparte. His willingness to lay everything on the line was admirable, even if the cause for which he fought was flawed. There are many illustrations of courage...
Have you ever witnessed a game where two teams were evenly matched? You keep cheering for your team, hoping they will overcome the odds to win. We went through this many times with our sons playing soccer. The tying or winning goal determined their emotional outlook...
Our house, like many in our part of the country, has a basement. This is a room below the main house that gives more floor space to the house. We do not live in the basement, but use it for other purposes (storage mainly). Exploring this subterranean space leads to a...
Cactus and scrub trees everywhere. One hundred ten degrees (43°C). Sudden thirst. These were the first things we sensed when we arrived in the Arizona desert. However, we noticed that people carried on normal activities despite heat and most insulated themselves with...
There is something about water—refreshing, cleansing, hydrating. Our bodies need it because most of our body weight is composed of water, both inside and outside of our cells. A spring rain clears the air, a shower cleanses our bodies and our minds, and a drink on a...
We wanted an outlet for our sons, so we decided to enroll them in a YMCA spring soccer league. They were playing with boys their age, so most of the games were evenly matched in terms of skills and abilities. The coach rotated the players throughout the game, so every...
One of the most touching things I have ever done is witness the birth of a child. Nothing compares with this miracle. The beginning of a new life, with all of its potential, is awesome, as is the love of the mother for the infant. The first cries of the baby, in fact,...
It was the day for washing clothes, and I was looking forward to clean clothes, especially without the food stains I had spilled on myself. I put the clothes in the washing machine, added the soap, and (presto!) started the machine. The machine started to fill with...
When I was growing up, nothing seemed to come easy to me. I struggled to learn how to ride a bicycle, falling many times and getting many scrapes and cuts. I was not gifted athletically, and so I didn’t fit into many of the sports boys my age were playing. My father...
One of the mysteries I do not understand is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Clearly, this miracle demonstrated Jesus Christ’s power over death. However, I cannot grasp how that happened to a dead man. Meditating on the fact I was adopted by the Heavenly Father as...
Adoption (huiothesia, υἱοθεσία) is an important Pauline metaphor describing our connection with God the Father (as well as with the Son and the Holy Spirit) (Ephesians 1:5; Romans 8:23). Adoption shows the honor which has been bestowed by the Heavenly Father on those...
How is snow like forgiveness in adoption?
Whose image are you created in?
Ephesians 1:5 says that the Father has chosen to adopt us. This is a great promise and encouragement. We are able to rejoice in the knowledge that we are truly His children. In adopting us, He bestows His honor upon us. In the Roman world, honor was a prized virtue....
It was a touching moment. Our last son decided to tie the knot. His fiancée is a fine woman, and we are happy to have her as an addition to our family, but it is a sign that both our sons and we are moving on. We thank the Lord for this evidence of maturity in their...
“No!” both of our sons said emphatically, when we asked if they had taken the car keys and tried to move the car. We had settled down for Sunday afternoon nap, only to wake up and find that the car had been rammed into the neighbor’s fence and knocked down their gate....
I stood by a father who had lost his eight-year-old daughter to multiple burns, and we cried together. We also wept at the miscarriage of our grandchild. Perhaps the most difficult experience of any parent is the loss of a child. We all experience multiple losses in...
As I have traveled to different cultures, I have learned that people have different concepts of time. In the United States, time is very “by-the clock,” and we anticipate activities will have a a...
We studied adoption prior to receiving our sons, and thought we were prepared for whatever was going to happen next. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Just when we thought we had figured them out, we discovered one more thing about their past that made...
We were cheering our favorite team as we all watched intently on television. Everyone wants to win the game or to have their favorite team win. Especially when it comes to the end of the game and the score is close. The sting of losing is more painful when you know...
It was a Saturday evening when I fell off the ladder and onto our concrete floor. My right foot was swollen like a balloon, and the pain was significant. My wife whisked me off to the emergency room,...
Volcanoes have been in the news recently, with more and more eruptions. We are tempted to ask why people choose to live so close to volcanoes, knowing of the possibility of having everything they own obliterated by an eruption (and possibly endangering or losing their...
Those in the northern part of the country are accustomed to getting plenty of snow in the winter. The snow, as it comes down, is pure and white. It appears as though it could not get any whiter. Then, as it mixes with salt and dirt, it first becomes dingy, and then...
Now is the time for spring. Over the winter, we experienced lots of snowfall, and the wind and the snowplows contributed to ever-increasing piles of snow. At some points in the winter, the snowdrifts become so tall they seem to hide the snowmen in the front yard! Once...
On a chilly afternoon, we visited the gravesite of a friend who had taken her own life four years prior. A group grieved together about the life of one who had ended her life too early. Suicide is on the rise, and opinions differ about why this is so. But taking one’s...
Another year and another holiday season are behind us. We ponder a new year and wonder what it holds, but do not pay as much attention to what has happened as we should. What things happened the past year that made us especially thankful? That is why milestones are so...
I have trouble staying awake in art galleries. My wife has taken me to several well-known ones, but not being an art lover means that these works of art (or occasionally history) are lost on me. I also find that skimming the photos of others on their cell phones not...
It was a starry night when I went camping with my sons. They looked into the sky in awe of what they saw, and one asked, “How big is the universe?” “We don’t know,” I said, “but God is bigger still.” “Cool,” was all he could say. There was a silence that enveloped us...
As we pulled out of our driveway one morning, our lights again caught the stray deer in our neighborhood. We have caught this creature foraging for fruit, flowers, and about anything else that might seem tasty. I am not an expert on deer. I do not hunt them. Any time...
Followers of Jesus Christ want to know and to do His will. We struggled with this both before and after our adoption. Were we really able to carry out the mission of rearing our adopted sons? Many times, we wrestle with knowing what to do next because we are not...
We were in awe when we first set our eyes on our new grandson. He was perfect in every way. I paused to think about how our parents may have reacted when they first met our adopted sons. Unlike us, God has no grandchildren. For those of us who were reared in Christian...
Pictures came across my computer screen of an Icelandic volcano erupting with streams of lava. Similar photographs were seen during an eruption of a volcano on Hawaii. These videos give a sense of both raw power and fear at the same time, with fire, molten rock, and...
There it sits, outside my front window. On summer days, our bird bath refreshes a squirrel, butterflies, and up to fourteen sparrows at a time. An occasional robin tries to crowd out the other birds who want to drink or splash around. Watching the birds interact...
We breathed a sigh of relief when the adoption court proceeding was over. We were finally adoptive parents! We had the impression that once our sons were part of our family, the hard part was over. Actually, we discovered that this was only the beginning. It was to be...
It was something we heard frequently from our adopted sons during the first year of their adoption. Whenever we corrected or disciplined them, they would respond to us with a sense of autonomy, “Well, we will just go back to the orphanage!” Never mind that the...
There was fear in my wife’s voice as I talked with her on the phone. “Our son just fell on the ice in the pond, and it looks as though he has broken his arm!” she exclaimed. The neighborhood boys had a...
I recently stayed with a lovely family who had lost a young child. She had died as a result of burns to her body from yanking a pot of boiling water off the stove, splashing it onto herself. The family was rightfully grieving her death and wondering what, if anything,...
I look outside and I see snow covering everything. It covers the yard, the sidewalks, the driveway, and the street. It is our reminder that winter has come. Snow had been described as both pure and beautiful, but I sometimes wish there wasn’t so much of it. Thing is,...
This time of year, leaves flutter everywhere. You rake and rake and rake. It is hard to believe that it wasn’t that long ago that you rejoiced to see the new growth on the trees ushering in spring. Now, sadly, the leaves have fallen. These leaves represent, in so many...
Marcellus George and his loving wife are the adoptive parents of (now adult) twin sons. He is the author of numerous articles and devotions, has a Ph.D. in theology... Read More