The price of a soul

We Americans are so spoiled. We drive nice cars, eat healthy (or not) meals three times a day, sleep on comfy beds, and have more clothes than any one person needs. What makes all this worse is that most of us go into debt to obtain those things. After Scott finished seminary we bought a house, 2 new used cars, and furniture to go in this great home. All of this was on credit. We paid cash for nothing. (Bad I know; but bear with me. I do have a point.) I don't think we are all that different from most Christian Americans. My generation has no idea how to pray and wait for something. We are clueless about how it feels to want and long for something. When we want it, we go get it. This leaves us lacking the ability to empathize with those who have nothing. We have no idea what it means to not have cool clothes. Lord willing, we will never know how it feels to ride the bus or use food stamps. This doesn't mean we have it all together financially. As most people do, we have debt. We have a lot of debt...way more than what we should have. Yet like 99% of other Christians there is one thing that we don't want to go into debt for. A child. Ask any Christian who has thought about adopting and they will say that the cost deters them. Okay, point made. But will the cost of the van you desperately want deter you? Nope. Will the cost of that house deter you? Not likely. You will probably just adjust your budget to make the house payment fit. But the cost of a child will deter anyone. Where is the logic in that? There are children all over the world who have no parents. There isn't one person who will claim them as their own. They celebrate Christmas alone (if it is celebrated at all), birthdays alone, and once they turn 18 they are sent out into the world to fend for themselves. I have been thinking a lot about this lately. As we are waiting and waiting for our baby my mind often turns to the money. Where in the world is it going to come from? We don't have it. We have to borrow every single dime. I already have enough debt do I really need to take on more? Scott is always very good about speaking truth to me in these times of worry. He reminds me that we aren't taking on debt for our own self fulfillment. We take on the debt for the soul of the child the Lord gives us. We pay the money for a baby so that he or she will be given the opportunity to know the Lord. So essentially we are paying some random agency so that we can share Christ with a child. My point is this: I think many of us Christians have it wrong. Now I realize that not every person is called to adopt. That is a no brainer. God has not called us all to do it. But I hear so many say they won't do it because of money; it just seems to be a bit of a cop out. It is okay to say you don't feel called to it. But to say that you won't pay for the soul, well, it just seems absurd. As one who is obviously passionate about adoption I would rather hear a fellow Christian say "I don't feel lead to adopt because blah blah blah" than to say they can't afford it. Do you think I can afford it? Do you think Shane and Greta (Journey to Selah---read it!) can afford to continue to fight the system in Kaz? Seriously. Do you think we can afford it? Do you think the average person who spends 40k or more to rescue a girl from China can afford it? Those who rescue children from overseas are saving them from so much. The family who goes to Ethiopia saves a child from what would have been certain death from AIDS. The couple who goes to China snatches a little girl from a future as a prostitute. And what about the baby who is born here in the states? While we may not be keeping that child from a life in an orphanage, we are giving them Christ. There is no telling what type of family may have otherwise adopted that child. Whe we adopt we know that we are giving them Jesus. I think this post has become way more wordy than I intended for it to be. I just wanted to make a point. This is my point...

"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all..." Romans 8:31

God spared no expense to adopt us. Nothing. His own son wasn't safe. No cost was too great. He sacrificed for me. I think I can sacrifice a bigger house and take on a very small monthly payment. A person's soul is at stake. When you compare what I sacrifice to what God sacrifices, well, it is laughable. I give up a little financial comfort for a few years. He up gave his son.

I would like to end this post by saying I am sorry if anyone is offended. But I can't do that. I am not sorry. Of course I don't want to anger anyone. But what I do want to do is challenge priorities. If God is speaking to your heart in the least bit regarding adoption, don't tell him you can't do it because of money. Where would we all be if he said he couldn't afford the cost of our adoption?