There's such an emphasis on getting right now... at Christmas.  Goodness, there's an intense emphasis on getting every day in the lives of children and adults alike!  Get, get, get, get...  Even in this home. And especially, especially at Christmas.  

So I purposed this Christmas to give a monetary gift to someone that was larger than what I had budgeted for any little person in our home.  And I let my children know it.  I wrote the check at the dinner table after the plates had been cleared.  My two youngest were too wiggly for the lesson, so they were excused, but my eldest was asked to stay.  After I penned the check a conversation with my big boy unfurled naturally between us.  

"Why are you sending them money when you've told us you don't have enough money for some of the things we want?" Caleb asked.

That's a great question.  I smiled.  "I've set aside some money for us to spend this Christmas, Caleb, but the biggest pile of that money is going to these friends of ours who are trying to adopt a little orphan girl from Russia."

"Don't they have money?"  He wanted to know.

"They have some money, yes...but they need more.  Adopting a child is costly.  I think it's awesome that they asked people for help because there's really nothing better to put our money toward, at Christmastime especially, than adopting a child.  Do you want to know why?...  Because Jesus came to Earth from Heaven so that we could all be adopted into His family!"

In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:5)

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  (Romans 8:29)

"And you want to know how much it cost?"   I asked Caleb?  He nodded and I showed him the check I'd just written an amount on.  Caleb's jaw dropped.  "Much, much more than that.  It cost Jesus everything to adopt you and to adopt me into God's forever family in Heaven."

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.  (1 Peter 3:18 )

"We were lost and in need of saving.  Like orphans waiting without the assurance of a future home.  But God loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus to make a way for the rest of us to come home to the Father.  We have done nothing to deserve saving, but Christ gave all He had to save us.  Let's sacrifice some of the things we want this Christmas to help save another."

Then I took Caleb's hand and we prayed for our friend's daughter, whoever she is; we prayed that those taking care of her today would do so lovingly; that she would have hope; be healthy; and that all of the complicated logistics of International Adoption would fall supernaturally into place.  

Amen.

Here's a video of our friends who are currently raising funds to bring their daughter home from Russia.  Take a moment to follow their Journey to the heart of God... Adoption.

“God reminded me how beautiful we all are to Him, after all, we were created in His own image, and He looks at me, at you, in all our sweat and dirt and brokenness, and says, "I choose you. You are beautiful.”

― Katie J. Davis, Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption

"Adoption is a beautiful picture of redemption. It is the Gospel in my living room.”

― Katie J. Davis, Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption

"Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others."

--  Barbara Bush