Adoption is a GOOD Thing!!

By Debi Boerckel

      Office Manager

My husband and I recently had the privilege of spending the weekend with friends of ours.  We have known them for almost 20 years, and served together at our local church for part of that time until God relocated them to another part of Florida.  Eleven years ago, they adopted their little girl.  They are amazing parents, raising her to know and love God, and to serve others.  In fact, this little one has such a servant heart it is obvious that serving is a gift that God himself has given her.  

As I spend time with this family, I am NOT constantly aware of the fact that this child was adopted.  She IS part of this family.  No less than her Mother or her Father.  She is their daughter and they are her parents.  There is a deep, deep love and bond between them – as deep a love as I have ever seen in any family.  There are mannerisms, speech patterns, and even unspoken understanding between her and her parents that can only exist in a family.

Why do you suppose adoption is so frowned upon by our society in the United States today?  Why is it that a woman would rather abort her child than place it into a loving home in the form of adoption?  So often, when we suggest the possibility of adoption to an expectant mother we hear, “Oh I could never carry my baby and then give it away.”  Some of these same women end their pregnancies through abortion.  Abortion is an attempt to eliminate a problem and return one’s life to its pre-pregnancy condition, which is impossible.  You can end a pregnancy, but you can’t make it as if it never happened.

Adoption, however, focuses on what is in the best interest of the mother, the baby, and the adopting family.  While adoption is certainly a difficult and emotional decision, there is so much good that comes from it.  As I heard recently, placing a baby for adoption isn’t giving up, it’s giving life that is full of excitement, opportunity, and joy!

As I watch my friends and their daughter, I find myself thanking God for a woman that was not afraid to do the next right thing – to make that difficult decision and impact so many lives for eternity.

The Adoption Symbol.  The Birth Family, the Adoptive Family
and the Adoptee each represent one side of the triangle and 
the heart intertwining each side of the triangle represents the 
love that is involved in an adoption.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

By Rayma Zugel

      Lead Center Director

A while back a young girl who knows me called and asked me what I did at Care Net. She had “heard” that Care Net helps girls get an abortion. She said, “No way would Rayma do that”, hence the phone call. I explained to her exactly what Care Net does, and that got me thinking, “What do people think we do here?” So I interviewed a few young people to see if they knew what we do. Here are some of the responses:

Q: What do we do at Care Net?

A: “You help women with their pregnancies, like those that don’t know what they want to do.”

Q: Anything else?

A: “You collect baby supplies for the families that can’t afford them.” (From a 14 year old girl)

I asked this young girl what I did, specifically, at Care Net:

Q: What do I do at Care Net?

A: “Mom’s come to Care Net to talk to you for a minute, and if they don’t want to keep their baby, you tell them to take their baby to the ‘baby center’ to give them for adoption.” (From a 7 year old girl)

Oh if only more people could understand what this little one already knows, that adoption is a real and good possibility for those that “can’t” keep their babies. After all, God chose us, adopted us through Christ.

“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ…” (Ephesians 1:4-5 NIV)

Q: What do the people that work at Care Net do?

A: “You help babies.”

Q: How do we do that?

A: “You give them food, and diapers, and stuff.”

Q: Do we do anything else?

A: “You help first time mommies and daddies know how to take care of their babies. (From a 10 year old boy)

Q: What do we do at Care Net?

A: You help babies.

Q: How do we do that?

A: You give them what they need, like diapers, milk, clothes, food, shoes. (From a 6 year old girl)

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you” (James 1:27 NIV).  

One child I asked responded this way:

Q: What do we do at Care Net?

A: You help women who are thinking about abortion and you help them not want to do that.

Q: How do we do that?

A: You talk to them about their babies and about God. (From an 11 year old boy)

  

Someone else asked a 16 year old girl:

Q: What do we do at Care Net?

A: “You help pregnant women in a crisis and teach them about God”

“Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children’” (Matthew 19:14 NIV)

“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” (Proverbs 22:6 NIV)

“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” (Psalm 127:3 NIV)

I would say the children we know around here have gotten it right.

What do you say we do at Care Net?

It IS Finished!

By Willow Sanders, Director of Student Services

Earlier in the week I was reading and came upon a story I’d heard at least a thousand times since childhood. It’s the story of the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Luke 24 gives a glimpse of the retelling of those first morning hours on the third day.

But one line just pierced my heart as I read it again and it just stayed with me all week.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

It’s a good question and one that was totally appropriate for the context of the story. Three days prior Jesus had been crucified, his followers were grieving, his body buried behind a heavy stone. Even with all they had been told, their Messiah was gone and life as they knew it was over. Or was it?

They’re asked this poignant question by what we can assume are angelic beings. Scared for sure by first finding their Master gone, and secondly by the appearance of these beings and the revelation they had forgotten. Maybe it was emotion at the loss of One so great. Maybe it was exhaustion of living through the past three days of Jesus’ life.

We’re not much different are we?

There are times in our lives when we’ve been given the road map. Told exactly the plan of execution for a season of our lives, but we arrive totally void of the knowledge given to us.  But we’re SO exhausted at dealing with this life or we’re so filled with emotions rather than Truth.  As our culture continues to speed up and it asks our young people to hurry up and grow up, we are constantly left trying to play catch up.

I can remember times when I arrived at a new venture or mission and I kept trying to drag the old with me. The old mindset. The old operating system. The old ME. I had forgotten that God was doing something new!

So like the two ladies at the tomb that day, we can find ourselves surprised by our Savior. We don’t have to hang on to the old things of the past. Yes, some things are meant to stay but others are not. Other things we’ve gotten fresh information on…we just need to walk in it!

Our every day and every moment can be a turning again, a re-orienting and redirection to the Gospel of our Lord.  It is our privilege to keep preaching the Gospel to ourselves and to one another rather than listening to condemning voices.  We get to look deeper and deeper into the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection every day so that we may live in the riches of God’s grace through Christ. 

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?” reminds us, Christian, that we live in the completed work of Jesus Christ—sins completely forgiven, atonement completely made, justification completely declared, adoption completely accomplished, and glory completely secured.  It is finished!

The Approaching Storm!

By Sue Chess, Executive Director

As a child growing up on a farm we learned to instinctively be aware of the weather.  Thunderstorms could roll in rapidly and become a scary and drenching experience for any of us not paying attention.  We spent our summers wading the creek, roaming the woods, the hills, and all things outdoors.  Our awareness of the sky was finely tuned to head for home or the sheltering rock overhang should we hear the rumble. 

The approaching rumble in today’s world is the emergence of things that were once hidden in our society coming to light in ways like never before.  Perhaps you heard the recent news that the Born-Alive Abortion Act failed in the Senate by a vote of 53-44.  The Senate failing to protect the innocent child should cause all of us to shudder.   But please understand, this vote was not new—they had done the same thing before.  It was just that this time the responding rumbling of citizens grew louder.  We are paying better attention. 

America is waking up and beginning to take note of the storm.  A new Marist poll (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-marist-poll-americans-make-dramatic-and-sudden-move-toward-pro-life-label-300801000.html) was just released showing a dramatic shift in how Americans view abortion.  The poll found that we are now as likely to identify as pro-life (47%) as we are pro-choice (47%).  Just one month ago, a similar Marist Poll showed Americans were more likely to identify as pro-choice than as pro-life, by 55% to 38%, a 17 point gap!

In addition to that, the poll found that Americans are in favor of abortion being limited to the first three months of pregnancy. 

We are beginning to see more clearly. What was somewhat hidden is being seen.  But if the the truism that says “Politics is downstream from culture” really is true, then we are seeing mirrored in our politics what our culture has been doing while many were not paying close attention.

Understanding that concept should help us to be encouraged.  The growing outrage among most at the fanaticism which is pulling hard to the left in our culture is not all bad—it’s the sound of battle and there can be no victory without a battle.  This is the sound of the sane among us waking up and pushing back, responding with a loud “this must stop!”  The line is being drawn and apathy is dropping away.

Take, for instance, the recent finalization of regulations blocking Title X funds from going to organizations that provide or refer for abortion.  How appropriate that these new regulations are based on the fact that abortion is NOT healthcare (can I get an Amen?).  In response, the culture of death is rising up against this pulling of easy taxpayer money—so the battle increases.  Let it!

So, while the noise of the storm is concerning, it ought not to cause us undue anxiety.  We are shifting culture.  If you doubt that, look over this picture at those in attendance at this year’s March for Life. Don’t worry about the lack of media attention to it—we know!

Culture does not shift without a storm but vigilance and involvement is needed everywhere.  Apathy is the worst response because it allows the opposing forces to advance. Become informed, speak up, MAKE time to be involved, and pray like never before. 

There is no victory without a battle!   And God’s got this!

Join us in the Battle!