Christian Adoption
Nationwide adoption center Lifetime Adoption is in need of loving Protestant married couples interested in adopting newborns and occasionally older children nationwide. Our clients are seeking families who are active in their church.
One such adoption situation is a Caucasian birthmother who would like to maintain contact through letters and photos. She states no substance usage throughout her pregnancy, and needs minimal assistance with medical expenses.
Another birthmother is expecting a full African American baby and would like to place with an African American or bi-racial couple. There is a history of bi-polar disorder in her family, and birthmother states that she manages her bi-polar disorder through medication.
Currently, Lifetime Adoption has a number of birthmothers due who are hoping to look at families ASAP. You may view the Birthparents Seeking Adoptive Families page online to learn about more situations.
To apply to adopt through Lifetime, please visit LifetimeAdoption.com/ and fill out a free application.
Christian Adoption
OpenAdoption, one of the newest apps available in the iTunes Store, brings adoption education and pregnancy options directly to mobile devices. The free app provides not only information and help, but also links to over 150 families waiting to adopt. It enables users to learn about and explore their adoption options, search for and review families that are ready to adopt, and utilize other adoption tools. Users will be pleased with the ease of use and excellent performance offered by the developer of the app. Click to visit the iTunes store to download the OpenAdoption app.
It also provides a full download of the book, So I Was Thinking About Adoption, geared toward women who are considering adoption of an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. The technology allows anybody to instantly and privately access adoption planning tools.
The app was the brainchild of Mardie Caldwell, C.O.A.P. who was one of the first adoption professionals to take adoption services to the internet. Through Caldwell’s adoption center, Lifetime Adoption, she has helped thousands of women find the free and non-judgmental help they need as they consider various options for their pregnancy.
Non-iPhone users can view and use the app as a web-based version at www.AdoptionOptionApp.com. The same functionality and usability is incorporated in this web version that works similarly to the version available in the iTunes Store.
Adoption Prayer
Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother.
— Lin Yutang
The Bible compares motherhood to God’s love for us. Just as a mother loves and nurtures, so does God shower His love on all new believers who are “babes in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1). If you are considering adoption, I hope you are including God in your adoption plans. While it is important to pray for yourself and your family in preparation of welcoming a new life to love, into your hearts, don’t forget to pray for the birth mother and all other adoption professionals you come into contact with.
Why should you pray for the birth mother? Well, firstly, God is using her to ultimately bless you with motherhood. Secondly, whatever be the circumstances in which the birth mother is giving up her baby in adoption, we know for sure that it is a very painful decision for her. She is doing what Jochebed, the mother of Moses did. Jochebed gave up her son to save him from death at the hands of Pharaoh. It must have been a terrible sight to watch her baby float in a basket on the reeds, not knowing who will find him. Yet, she exercised her faith in God by taking a bold step to save his life. God honored her faith and Moses was picked up by Pharaoh’s own daughter!
There are two important lessons we can learn from Jochebed – she trusted God to save her child and she also used the opportunity she got as a nursing maid to influence Moses’s character. So, what can you do as a prospective parent? You can ask God to strengthen the birth mother to go through the adoption process and pray for her future. God is placing the life of a child into your hands. As a mother, modeling Jochebed, you must impart your faith to your child, preparing the child to serve God in every way.
As a mother, you have the responsibility of influencing your child positively during the formative years. Be committed to making a powerful contribution to the glory of God by raising godly children. When you do that, you are not only honoring God but also the woman who put her child into your hands, trusting you to do what’s right.
Christian Adoption, Open Adoption
Our children are not ours because they share our genes…
they are ours because we have had the audacity to envision them.
That, at the end of the day…or long sleepless night,
is how love really works.
— Unknown
Are you afraid of open adoption? Do you think it is not only uncomfortable but also unbiblical? Well, I want to share what I found in the Word of God. Before we find instances of open adoption in the Bible, you must understand that adoption is pleasing in God’s sight. There are many examples of Biblical characters encouraging and demonstrating adoption: The adoption of Moses by Pharaoh’s daughter, the adoption of Esther by her relative Mordecai after the death of her parents, and finally, Joseph’s adoption of Jesus as his own child. Apart from these people adopting children who are not biologically theirs, the Bible says we are the children of God through adoption. In fact the New Testament (Gal. 4:3–7; Eph. 1:1–6) describes the believer’s relationship with God through adoption. So, it is very clear that adoption is divinely authorized and has the blessing of God, our Maker.
But, what does the Bible have to say about open adoption? Well, Joseph’s adoption of Jesus is a beautiful example of this process. He welcomed Jesus as his own, even though Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. He recognized him as his own son and gave him all legal rights, including the claim to the Davidic family line. When Jesus was 12 years old, he wandered away from his parents during the Passover Feast in Jerusalem, and was found three days later in the temple talking to the teachers. When he was questioned by his mother, he replies, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49)
Now, no adoptive parent would want to hear something like this. We can only imagine how Joseph felt when Jesus calls God as His ‘father’. The Bible indicates that Jesus spent time alone in prayer, communicating with His Father God. Joseph could have allowed himself to get upset about this. But, he did not allow this kind of open communication with Jesus’ heavenly Father to sour his relationship with his adopted son. We read that Jesus was ‘subject’ to his parents as He grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:51). So, He enjoyed a close relationship with his earthly parents, while communing with His Father in Heaven.
Can we do the same with an open adoption? Yes, we can.
The focus of the adoption process should be the child. Your child’s birth family is very much a part of his or her life, whether you like it or not. What if Joseph and Mary had said to Jesus, “No, you may not tend to your Father’s business until you are 18 years old and an adult. Until that time, you are to have no contact with Him.” It may seem comical to consider that as we are talking about our Heavenly Father, but the issue of fear is the same.
An open adoption will remove feelings of insecurity and abandonment in your child that comes from not knowing anything about the birth family or not having any contact with them. It is your responsibility to maintain a healthy communication channel with your child’s birth family if you have agreed to that. If you fear complications from it, allow God to remove those fearful thoughts from your mind. Trust in Him and ask Him for the grace you need to opt for an open adoption.
Christian Adoption, Domestic Adoption, Open Adoption
“For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed”
-Luke 1:48
This was what Mary said when she met Elizabeth in Judah. Mary was probably 19 years old when the angel of the Lord met and proclaimed to her that she would bear the Son of God. The angel also announced that her relative Elizabeth has conceived despite her barrenness, for “with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37). It is a wonderful scene where these two women meet. Elizabeth was old and barren, yet with child, while Mary was very young and pregnant without ‘knowing a man’. We see God’s hand in both these miracles that defy the natural order of things.
Most of us suffering from infertility may wonder why God is putting us through this trauma, when He can heal us ‘right away’ and make us pregnant. Well, if there’s one thing we need to know about God, it’s this: He cannot be confined in a neat box! He has many acts up His sleeve and is the sovereign God who decides how and when to answer our prayers. There are times when God will do the unexpected and take us on a path we never even dreamed of.
I believe the person who said “The longest journey of any person is the journey inward”, had a long walk with God! Our struggles with infertility can be a wonderful opportunity to get rid of all the spiritual, mental, and emotional infections and dirt that have slowed us down in our walk of faith. When we trust in, rely on, and put our confidence in the Rock of Ages, we embark on an exciting journey that will take us to the place of complete rest, peace, and joy in Christ.
God works in ways that are beyond our comprehension. Sometimes, we may not like what He has planned for us. But, if we believe that we are in His thoughts and He has good plans that give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11), we will welcome any surprise He throws at us. Christian adoption may be one of the surprises God has in store for infertile couples. He knows the inborn yearning in every woman to become a mother and He understands this feeling. Adoption may be His way of meeting your need to become a mother and giving a life of comfort, security, love, and faith to a child who needs you, more than you need him or her.
For my journey to motherhood, this is exactly how God worked. I lost pregnancy after pregnancy in an attempt to become a mother the only way I knew how. When I finally received the news that a successful pregnancy was not going to be an option, I prayed that God would remove this great desire to be a mother if it was not in His plans for my life. It was then, that He opened a window in my darkest days of desperation, as if to say “Mardie, simply follow MY path for your life.” God’s path led me through an adoption journey that blessed me not only with my son, but also with the work I do today through Lifetime Adoption Center. Two miracles that would not have existed for me had I not followed God’s leading.
If you are confused about adoption or your journey to parenthood, I encourage you to spend some time today in prayer. Ask God to show you what to do and lead you in your decisions concerning adoption. Believe that one day you will have a child who will rise up and call you blessed!
Christian Adoption
Called to Adoption has been featured in the August issue of Adoption Today! Adoption Today is an adoption magazine dedicated to international and trans-racial adoption. In the magazine, the book’s author Mardie Caldwell is interviewed about her professional experience as an adoption professional, as well as her own journey to adopt her son. She shares how Called to Adoption is a helpful resource for all persons interested in domestic or international adoption.
To read the article in its entirety, please click on the image below:
Adoption Prayer, Christian Adoption
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
-The New King James Version., 2 Co 3:18 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
As I read this verse this morning, I wondered what it means to be ‘transformed from glory to glory’. As I thought about it, I realized that God’s ultimate goal is to transform us from within to reflect His image. But, this transformation does not happen overnight. There is a saying that ‘it is not time that heals, but what we do in that time that brings the healing’. Every challenge or trial we face in this life is an opportunity to transform us more into God’s likeness.
What do we do when we pray for something and God makes us wait for an answer? Do we complain, doubt, worry, and feel like giving up? Do we envy all the other women who are blessed with children (biological or adopted), have great husbands, and possess spiritual and material blessings? It is so easy to give in to our feelings of jealousy when we compare our blessings with those of others. We may even end up disappointed with God or question our worth in His eyes, beating ourselves up on why we are not blessed like ‘that woman’. But, God makes it very clear that we must make Him the center of our lives in order to feel fulfilled. No child can fill that God-shaped hole in your heart.
Don’t compare your ‘glory’ with someone else’s glory. God knows our individual needs and concerns, and He will bless each one of us according to what He knows we need and can handle. His timing is absolutely perfect. He is never late and never early, but right on time! So, be confident that He will bless you at the right time with the child He has chosen for you.
Adoption Prayer, Christian Adoption
Is it possible to be grateful for what we have, and yet still feel called to desire more in our lives? Aren’t the desires of our heart just as valid, even if we have a loving spouse, a stable home, and maybe even a child or two?
God has designed us to constantly yearn for more – it’s His will for us to answer his call when he has planted a seed in our hearts. Many adoptive parents wonder if it really is in God’s plan to welcome an additional child into their home. Many adoptive mothers feel guilt about wanting more than what God has already provided. You have your health, your career, your friends and family – and yet, something is still missing. In your heart, you know there is a child out there who is meant to be YOUR child. This need and desire is just as real as anything you could physically hold in your hand.
Yes, I believe there is a reason God puts this desire in our hearts. For example, He has designed His relationship with us to constantly want more. He doesn’t just want us to feel satisfied in our relationship with Him, but He wants us to grow, and learn, and become closer to Him. Just as in a new romance, when we first met our spouse and just couldn’t get enough time with the each other, God wants us to be that in love with him. It is possible to be completely grateful for the blessings in your life, and still want more. It is valid to be at peace with what God has provided, and still feel called to bring a baby into your family. Some women are called to be mothers through adoption – and it is up to us to take action steps to fulfill that calling.
As we go through each day, sharing His love with others, there are few ways to touch people for a lifetime. Adopting a child into our lives, our hearts, and His heavenly kingdom is actively changing a life for our lifetime and for eternity.
His plans may not be for you to adopt, but rather your actions may still fulfill His plans for a child. He may need you as an instrument to affect the lives of others.
What are you doing today and this week to move closer to God’s calling in your life? Spend some quiet time in prayer and listen for that gentle (or sometimes not so gentle) discernment. Continue your research, develop your plan for your adoption, and take the baby steps needed toward fulfilling your calling to adopt.
Adoption Prayer, Christian Adoption, Domestic Adoption
Stop telling God how big your storm is –
Instead tell your storm how big your GOD is.
— Unknown
Most Christians looking to adopt are not aware of the financial aspects of adoption. Domestic adoptions through public agencies are the least expensive. Adoptions through private agencies, independent sources, and international adoptions can range anywhere from $15,000 to a whopping $45,000. If you are contemplating adoption, these figures should not put you off. Why? Well, think of it as an investment – an investment in a life! Surely this cannot compare with all the other material things we save up for and purchase, such as cars and homes?
If the costs involved in adopting a child appear to be overwhelming, then ask God to provide the financial resources to help you bring home the child He has waiting for you. Jesus is a specialist in impossibilities. So, commit your finances to Him and be confident that God will provide for your financial needs. Of course, you must also work out a specific budget to understand how much you may have to pay. The costs will include adoption agency fees, facilitation fees, home study fees, and additional expenses in case of medical exams, interstate adoptions, and so on. Be sure to contact the concerned professional to get the fee schedule, additional costs, and terms of payment in writing. You may find that you will have to sell a few of your favorite items to meet the costs or scrimp and save for a few months to lessen your financial burden. But, if it will give you a lifetime of loving and protecting a child, it is worth every cent.
If God has placed the desire to adopt in your heart, you can rest assured that He will provide the means for it. As Philippians 4:6 urges, don’t worry about your finances, but praise Him and thank Him in every situation and He will bring His plans to pass.
Adoption Prayer, Christian Adoption
Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
No matter where you are in your adoption journey, it is never too late to include God in your plans to bring home a baby. Even though in Mathew 18:14 Jesus is referring to the sheep that go astray, there is a remarkable message for those contemplating adoption. God does not want anyone to miss out on His free gift of salvation. Many couples question themselves on whether it is really God’s will for them to adopt. This is more so the case when they run into some problem or difficult situation in the adoption process. When things turn rough, it is human nature to doubt if we made the right decision.
God makes it very clear in the Bible that He cares for the orphans and little children. The Word of God also tells us that it is possible for us to know His will. It is God’s will that everyone should be saved (2 Pet 3:9), that we should enjoy everlasting life (John 6:39, 40), that we should be thankful (1 Thess. 5:18), and that we should be blessed through Him (1 Thess. 4:3).
Adoption can be a trying and testing process. You have to make decisions from your heart and your head. You may forget to complete an important paperwork or the birth mother may suddenly change her mind! There are many challenging situations that can crop up. Choose an adoption professional you can connect with and share a good rapport. Better yet, ask God to send you the right person to work with so that the adoption process will progress smoothly. Invite God to be a part of your adoption plans and He will help you find the child He has chosen for you.
The New King James Version., Mt 18:14 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
