Thoughts On A Long Flight

Awhile back Victoria purchased a book for me entitled, “Adopted for Life” (Our Blog Title), written by Russell D. Moore who himself adopted boys from a Russian orphanage some time ago. I always wanted to read a good book about adoption that viewed it from a wholistic perspective, incorporating physical adoption into an earthly family for those like our girls from China AND our spiritual adoption into the family of God for those who are found in Jesus. Although I haven’t read many such books, this one might be one of the best.

While reading it on the airplane to Hong Kong, a few paragraphs jumped out at me that targeted much of what Victoria and I are feeling about adopting an older child that can cognitively discern what’s happening round and about her, and will also have a strong memory of her past before she ever knew us. Some of our biggest fears and concerns are for her transition and matriculation into our family from what she’s known her entire life while living in China, regardless of how bad or good it was. The bottom line is that she does not have a mommy or daddy, and she, like us all, need them.

Here’s what Russell Moore says about this roughly one-third of the way through his book:

“We cannot consider our adoption as children of God without turning to the cross. When Jesus is stapled to this Roman torture device, He bears the full weight of the curse of an orphan creation. The apostle Paul is able to speak of us as receiving adoption as sons only because Jesus becomes ‘a curse for us’. In the Gospel account, the Holy Spirit announces, ‘for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’ – so that in Jesus Christ the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith’ (Galatians 3:13-14).

On a Friday two thousand years ago, a Roman soldier strikes a spear into the dead, bloodied flesh of this Man. Some government employee pulls spikes from the carcass melded to wood, then goes home and scrubs off the blood of Christ as he washes up for dinner. He may toss his children in the air with hands still embedded with the blood of Jesus under his fingernails. The body removal has to happen before dark; His body can’t hang on that tree overnight because Israel ‘shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance’ (Deuteronomy 21:23).

But God lifts Jesus out of His hole in the ground and gives Him the universe as His inheritance. The curse is lifted – for Jesus and for all who are found in Him.

The trauma of leaving the orphanage was unexpected to me because I knew how much better these boys’ life would be. I thought they knew too. But they had no idea. They couldn’t conceive of anything other than the status quo. My whispering to my boys, ‘You won’t miss that orphanage’ is only a shadow of something I should have known already. Our Father tells us that we too are unable to grasp what’s waiting for us – how glorious it really is. It’s hard for us to long for an inheritance to come, a harmonious Christ-ruled universe, when we’ve never seen anything like it.

We just can’t imagine ‘the glory that is to be revealed to us’ (Romans 8:18). That’s why it’s so important to have ‘the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints’ (Ephesians 1:18).”

This was an encouragement to Victoria and me today, who just a little over 48 hours from now will receive Xiao Qian as one of our own. By the time you receive this you’ll know we successfully made it to Hong Kong after a long, 15-hour cramped flight across the Pacific Ocean. The views of the snow-white mountainous peaks of Alaska and northeastern Russia were stunning on a day where we never saw the sun set. We’re both at peace, comforted that our family in California is well cared for, and even in spite of a very frustrating attempt to revive my cellular telephone/Blackberry that went kaput on me just hours before we took off. I doubt I’ll have mobile service while in China, something I desperately attempted to meticulously plan in advance to guarantee for 24/7 connectivity. I believe this was from the Lord, and am accepting it as His way of both refining me (I couldn’t have been more frustrated) and releasing me from work-related stress when my mind needs to be solely devoted to Xiao Qian, Victoria and my family in California.

(Austin & Barret, we’re sitting next to a very nice man on the airplane from Shenzhen and we’ve been communicating by way of the translator. It works, although the conversation is slow and simple. He could stroke Chinese characters like there’s no tomorrow and the translator picked up almost his every word. I guess we’re just pretty lame when it comes to writing Mandarin.)

Will sign off for now, as you’re probably getting tired of reading (I have nothing else to do but sit here, read and write/type.)

Gratefully in Jesus,