WELCOME

Today I would like you to watch two YouTube videos.

The first is Rodney Carrington's "If I'm the Only One." Watch it to the end, please. This link should work by either using the Ctrl key or clicking the link or by copy and paste. The link is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nZMtwm7fcs

The second is Mark Schultz's "Everything to Me." This video can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPYaRJOWznk Again, use the Ctrl key and click or copy and paste.

Do you know what I am going to write about today?

TODAYS SCRIPTURE:

And she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. …… When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water." Exodus 2:2, 3 and 10

ADOPTION

A while back, all within a three day period, four things happened:

• A Facebook friend told about adopting his wife's children.
• The Sunday bulletin offered this prayer, "Thank you Father, for adopting us into Your family because of Jesus Christ our Savior.
• An email said that adoption is when you are entrusted with a child to raise.
• Our son had me watch the Rodney Carrington video.

I put these in my "is a good idea for a blog" file. This morning, Sunday, May 30, I saw Mark Schultz's video and decided it was time to take them out of the file.

Adoption is very special to our family. Because one woman understood she would not be able to raise her unborn baby, we are blessed with a granddaughter. That granddaughter is now 15 years old but I can remember the very first time I saw her. Instant love!

In that instant, I realized there are three ways to deliver a baby. One is by natural birth. The second is by caesarean section. The third is from the hands of another.

My 1995 Christmas poem included this: "We received a gift this year - an answered prayer. Our son and his wife adopted a baby. What joy this little girl has brought into our lives. Knowing that an unseen hand always held ours, made the uncertainty and waiting easier. As we waited for this addition to our family, we learned to appreciate the unselfish generosity and love that one person can have for another. A mother put the future of her child first. She gave us a granddaughter. God put us first -- He gave us His Son!"

As this is being written, we have friends who are in China. They have traveled a very long way to adopt.

Moses' mother knew she had to find a safe home for her son. Many mothers and fathers make the same decision. Bless you.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

Have you adopted a child? Do you know someone who is adopted? Are you adopted? (Read Ephesians 1:4-7) Maybe you have been adopted twice.

Please use this as a beginning of your prayer. Finish in your own words, words from your heart.

LET US PRAY

Adoption. This can bring up so many emotions. Lord, I pray for the mothers and fathers, who have entrusted their children to others. Give them peace with this decision. Lord, I pray for the mothers and fathers who opened their arms and their hearts to these very special children. Lord, I pray for the children. I pray they will grow into adulthood, proud to be called adopted. Amen