Adopted Again

When we formally adopted Eva, a judge in a court of law passed a final decree of adoption which declared that she was our child … just as if we had given birth to her, with all the rights and privileges of membership in our family. On one hand, it was a simply a formality – we had already had Eva in our home for months by then, and we knew with all our heart and soul that she was truly our daughter! But on the other hand, it was a solemn and yet joyful moment to hear those words and that judicial declaration.

Eva’s adoption finalization as our daughter took place on May 7, 2002. But today, October 17, 2006, Eva was adopted again … this time into God’s family!

For several weeks, she has been asking a lot of questions concerning what it means to be a Christian and to be saved, and who is going to go to Heaven, and about asking Jesus into her heart. Each time, we have tried to answer her questions clearly and then we have encouraged her to think about what we have said and come back to talk to us again later. We wanted to make sure she was truly understanding God’s truth about her sinfulness, Christ’s payment on the cross, His resurrection and promise of forgiveness and a future inheritance in Heaven.

This morning, God showed me that His ways are truly higher than my ways! We were running late, I was driving through fog and traffic to take the girls to school, and in the course of conversation Eva asked, “Mom, when can I be a Christian?” I answered by way of several questions – What does it mean to be a Christian? What happens to your sin when Jesus comes into your heart? and so on. Eva answered each question with what seemed to be real understanding, so I told her that she could pray to ask Jesus into her heart whenever she was ready, maybe after school today with Daddy, or even in the car. She thought about it, then said she wanted to do it in the car, and would I help her if she forgot what to say?

I never expected to hear my daughter ask Jesus to forgive her sins, come into her heart, and be her Savior in the middle of a busy highway on a foggy morning with her siblings in the car. I kept thinking that at any minute Isabel would interrupt the conversation with questions or comments, but she stayed strangely quiet. That in and of itself gave me a confidence that this was God’s timing after all!

After Eva prayed, I encouraged her that we are supposed to tell other people about our decision. Owen started yelling, “Eba, Eba, Eba!” the way he does and I encouraged her to tell Owen about it! She hesitated, then said enthusiastically, “Owen! I asked Jesus into my heart!” and he responded with more animated babbling! It was cute. She was excited to tell her teacher when she got to school, and Mommy was excited to call Daddy on the phone and tell him before he left for school!

Isabel then said she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart, but we are not sure that she fully understands yet so I told her we would talk about it with Daddy after school. At first she was disappointed because “but why did Eva get to do it in the van?” I explained to her that we had had a lot of special conversations with Eva first, and we wanted to have some special talks with her, too. And she was content with that.

Today there is an adoption celebration in Heaven! Thank you, Lord!

“… but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God …” Romans 8: 15b,16