Gayle and Kathleen - Chosen for us by God

Ephesians 1: 3-14 - Spiritual Blessings in Christ

 ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

 ¹¹In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹²so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

From the beginning of our journey back in April 2011, Stephanie and I have kept an open mind and heart about the possibility of petitioning to adopt a second child. When the Lord led us to Kathleen, the circumstances at that time had us defer our search for a second child.  We are convinced of God's Sovereignty and Providence; His timing is always perfect, and has called us to adopt Gayle into our family.

We realize the sacrifice involved in our adoption mission and are mindful of the need to keep an eternal perspective, as opposed to focusing on the short-term "chaos" that this second adoption process will bring. As stated in the sermon preached at our church last Sunday, "We adopt to show the world what our great God and Father is like, to magnify His greatness to the praise of His glorious Grace."