Why?

What is the point? Why would we adopt when we obviously have no trouble making our 'own' babies?

Well, it follows from a basic premise to which Joe and I both ascribe: People are valuable.

All people are valuable.  People are made in the image of God.
So God says.
So we say.

Children are special. They are defenseless. God gets worked up about the defenseless. So we get worked up about the defenseless. Anyone who knows me, knows that abortion breaks my heart. Unborn babies are the MOST defenseless. I feel compelled to speak up for these who cannot speak up for themselves. I feel deeply motivated to care for those most affected by abortion- vulnerable women and defenseless children. God has called me, commanded me, to do so.

It should not come as a surprise then, that God has also called and commanded me to care for orphans. They are a tie for me for the position of most defenseless with preborn children. They have a little more autonomy and ability to get their needs met, but they do not have the luxury of still being with their mother.
I believe that a commitment to advocating for preborn children directly leads to caring for orphans. The authors of "Orphanology" ask a very sharp-edged question to those who spend their time and energy protesting abortion, "Would you be willing to adopt these kids if they were not aborted?" Orphan care is where the rubber meets the road for those who value the sancitity of life.

I am especially moved by the words of Christ when it comes to children: Mark 9:36 "Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but
Him who sent Me.”

I have been shown  through Bibly study and the Holy Spirit three specific groups of children God recognizes as made in His image and expects us to receive:

unborn children
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
~Psalm 139

biological children
 ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it
~Genesis 1

 and orphans
5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.

6 God sets the solitary in families;

He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;

But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
~Psalm 68

All three of these categories of people have been devalued and marginalized in our culture and around the world. Babies in the wombs of unmarried women? A drain on society to be eliminated. Babies in families? Best limited to 2.3 per household. Orphans? Best to just ignore, their problems are too big to be helped.

But God calls us to receive them.
How strongly have your opinions on children been influenced by the world? Look at your heart and your attitudes. Do you freely and happily receive children? Or do you think it's better to eliminate, limit, and ignore? Honestly, don't people KNOW WHAT CAUSES children?

So, why am I applying to adopt a ten year old when I am 9 months pregnant? Why do I pray so hard and talk so much about the tragedy of abortion? Because God says these are His people, made in His image, and I am blessed to receive them.

Receive the little ones; receive Christ and the ONE who sent Him.

XO