Adopted by God...and Us

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2007 Issue of the Blueprint HomeLife Newsletter

Boy, do I have a story to tell!

Through circumstances way too detailed to explain here, God has placed before the Johnsons (us) the opportunity to adopt a baby.  In a nutshell, we heard about the birth mother’s situation, prayed about stepping in, and are now walking through the preliminary steps to adopt Madeline Kate when she is born in early October.

Getting to where we are today has been a whirlwind adventure over the past few months, to say the least.

From the moment we heard of the need back in June, Jen was on board.  She has a great love for children and a compassion for single moms.  So for her, this is a ministry to both the baby and her mother.  It’s exactly what God has wired her to do.

I was a harder sell. In fact, I argued with God for the good part of a month.  And it got ugly. Adopting a newborn simply didn’t fit into my organized life.  I finally stopped looking for a sign from God and looked for the heart of God in Scripture.  Among others, I read James 1:27 – “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”  I finally came to the reality that if this is God’s priority, then it should be my priority, too.  It’s amazing how quickly my heart has caught up to this decision of my will.

As we have been praying this through, we also realized that the body of Christ has not effectively followed through on this issue.  We are ardently pro-life and work hard to encourage single moms not to abort their babies.  But we do very little to help them once they have their children.  I can only imagine what would happen in our world if the church would simply rise up and truly care for these young moms and their children!  Sorry….I’ll get off my soapbox and get back to the story. 

I know what you’re thinking….don’t the Johnsons have like nine kids already?  Actually, we have four so Maddie Kate will make five.  The reality is that a lot of kids means we have a lot of love to give.  Plus, as Psalm 127:5 says, “How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of arrows.”  It turns out that the typical quiver holds five arrows.  How cool is that?  We consider ourselves exceedingly blessed.

Our four kids are excited about welcoming a new life into our family, as well.  While we have talked and prayed about fostering children before, the thought of getting to care for a baby and to keep her has thrilled them to no end.

For the next few months, we ask for your prayers.  Pray that every detail falls into place just as God intends.  Pray that our home and family is made fully ready to welcome another life into it.  And as part of the Johnson Ferry family, pray for yourself.  We’re counting on you to help us to disciple and prepare Maddie Kate for a lifetime of bringing glory to God with her very life.

We’ll keep you posted...