Introduction

Introduction

Even if you think adoption isn’t a part of your story, it is. For in a sense, each one of us has been orphaned.
As Lorilee Craker shares her deeply personal story of adoption, we find surprisingly practical applications for each of us. Adopted herself, she’s also the birth mother of two children and the adoptive mom of Phoebe, the princess with the orphan heart.

Craker sees adoption as an inherently “spiritual endeavor.” “Orphans” are all around us, and we engage in the spirit of adoption every time we help another in need. Similarly, we receive this grace every time someone meets us in our need. This is a picture of what God does for us and how he intends for us to treat each other.

Jesus told his disciples, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:8 esv). Adoption reveals the heart of our heavenly Father.

“God settles the solitary in a home,” wrote the poet David (Psalm 68:6). Adoption is a part of everyone’s story because we have an adopting Father who welcomes us to his forever family.

Tim Gustafson