My wife and I arrived home safely last evening from our brief excursion to Fargo, ND. We drove to Fargo to attend an all-day adoption initiation meeting on Friday.
There were six other couples there along with my wife and I, including two who live right here in the Twin Cities. It’s always heartening to be in the midst of fellow believers who are also enduring similar life challenges. In this case, we’re all dealing with not having a biological child.
The first 4-5 hours dealt with the licensed Social Workers and Counselors explaining the history of Christian Family Life Services and where their ultimate responsibility lies. It’s to uphold God’s glory by taking his precious gift (in this case, a newborn baby) and placing it in a Christian home where that infant will be raised in the reverential fear of the Lord. While the folks at CFLS were elated to have all of us aspiring parents at the meeting, they emphasized that their #1 priority is the well-being of the baby. Of course, we covered a lot of ground on the logistical side (i.e. home study, paperwork, background checks, etc.), which at times was quite tedious. But given that the end result of the mounds of paperwork is a baby, we consider it a labor of love.
If there was a lasting impact from Friday’s gathering, it had to be when two birth mothers were brought in to share their stories on giving up a child they carried inside them for nine months. It’s widely understood that there is a significant bonding process which takes place between mother and infant over that nine-month period. So we were incredibly moved by the young ladies and their tearful recollections of enduring a pregnancy that they both knew would end up leaving them with empty arms shortly after giving birth. Not only does CFLS provide services for adoptive parents, they also counsel the young mothers during their subsequent grief in letting go of a part of them. My wife and I both agreed that whatever results come from this endeavor we’re forever changed and impacted over the love and compassion shown by CFLS. We now realize this journey of ours has been an answer to prayer.
When leaving Fargo at 4:30 yesterday, we spent most of the 3 ½ hour drive home trying to process all the information we took in. As Christians we understand how God made the ultimate sacrifice of giving His son Jesus so that we may all have eternal life. And there certainly is no debate about the level of that sacrifice, one made out of unconditional love. It’s a sacrifice that is understood a little better by birth mothers giving up their children for adoption.
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