Adoption: Call or Conversion?

Last updated on: August 15, 2011 at 5:48 pm by Amy Julia Becker

Adoption: Call or Conversion? 2011-08-15T17:48:29-04:00 Amy Julia Becker

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I ran a series of guest posts in early August surrounding the topic of adoption. In one, Ellen Painter Dollar delineated the problems inherent in the question, “Why Don’t You Just Adopt?” I recently found out that Melissa Florer-Bixler, blogger at Sign on the Window, responded to Ellen’s post by distinguishing between the call to adopt (and the call to parenthood) and the conversion to adopt/parent. Melissa writes:

But I do want us all to hesitate when we use the language of “call” when it comes to adoption. Maybe we should be praying more for a conversion of our hearts when it comes to the task of parenting adopted children. I know I’ll be praying for conversion in my heart and life as fear around finances and the future creep into my life. I hope you will, too.

The distinction helps me, as I know that some people feel a longing to adopt, just as some feel a longing to bear children biologically. Others of us create unconventional families because God has changed the way we see the world, the way we understand family (see Jennifer Grant’s post “Who Are My Children?” or for even more, Jennifer’s recent memoir Love You More). Quite frankly, I suspect that my fears and selfishness may prevent me from hearing God’s call, if there is one, to adopt. But, like Melissa, I want to be open to God’s work in my life. Maybe I’ll be converted too.

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