Because He Loved Us First

For the last week I have been working with an organization, Fund the Nations, to customize a design for our adoption T-shirt. As we emailed back and forth trying to fine tune just the right image to portray our heart for adoption, I was struck by the difficulty to package all of my emotions concerning adoption onto a t-shirt front. Adoption is about redemption, family, hopes and dreams. It is about stepping out of your comfort zone and taking risks. At times it is about obedience. We tend to keep ourselves so busy and hurried that we often forget to listen to his call. We have definitely been there. We have had that argument with God in the past. "I have enough on my plate. I am too busy already. Adoption is expensive. I don't know if I could handle all of the special needs this child may bring into our family..." Our list of excuses to God of why another adoption is not in order seem endless. At some point, God's ways prevail though. Our Father has a way of breaking through all of our excuses and leading us gently to obedience. It is an obedience not done out of fear but out of love for my Father. "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is to love God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome." I John 5:1-3.

Adoption is about love. Loving someone in spite of their past. Loving someone who may not be able to reciprocate at first or possibly ever. Loving someone enough to break out of your comfortable life. Loving someone on the other side of the world that you have never met or spoken to before. Loving, just because you were asked to love. Why would anyone do that? The cost seem so high. We love because Jesus first loved us. As His follower I want to be like Him. My salvation came with a high price and I recognize I am not worthy of the cost Jesus paid but He loved each us enough to do it anyway.

So back to the T-shirt...I think the message summarizes my heart for adoption. It really is all about His love.

Lou says we are going to lose money on this fundraiser but I would love to prove him wrong. My goal is to sell 75 of these lovely Ts. They are preshrunk 100% cotton and available in sizes Youth M-XL and Adult S-XXXL. $23 to PayPal to  rakoczy_99@gmx.com. Remember to leave your size and the correct shipping address if not local.