People often ask me how I decide what I'm going to write about on this blog. The truth is I don't. I've noticed in my crazy "middle age" that there are certain moments in life that catch my attention. Then I start to ponder that moment and usually end up having a conversation with myself, in my head, about whatever it is I'm pondering. To be honest, it usually happens while I'm running the vacuum or cooking or doing some of my mundane duties. Sometimes, while I'm having this private conversation with myself, another voice will speak......very quietly. I have come to believe and know that this is my Spirit, God's Holy Spirit, speaking to me. I think somewhere in my upbringing I learned that the Holy Spirit talks to us through the scripture, and I believe that to be true with my entire being. But, God's Holy Spirit in me, also speaks to me in a way I can't describe, really. The best way to describe it is that I feel it in my heart. And it happens mostly when I am making a conscious decision to be quiet and listen. "Quiet" might be with the vacuum cleaner going or music playing or loading the dishwasher, but it is usually when I'm sortof saying "Ok, Lord, what do you want to teach me?" So I had another "moment" this week while watching one of my favorite shows, "Parenthood." It's the season finale so I know that all the stories are going to be wrapped up in a nice package to end the season. Throughout the season one of the couples has been struggling with their "foster child," Victor. They have been on a rollercoaster about whether or not to adopt Victor because he is about eleven years old and it isn't always a fun or easy ride. He is resistant and then they are resisitant.......and then the sister is resistant. There is this uneasiness about whether or not they should take the leap and legally adopt him.
So I'm watching the show and the scene comes where the couple, The Grahams, show up at the judge's office to officially adopt Victor. My "moment" came when the judge pronounces that Victor is legally adopted. The judge looks around the room and proudly declares to Victor that "he, as an adopted son, is entitled to all of the "rights" of a natural son." I start to feel my eyes burn and have this desire to rewind the DVR and watch the entire scene again. I'm wondering what it is about those words and this scene that have started the pondering and the classic "conversation in my head." The entire family came together to support each other at the adoption ceremony. They each brought their own "baggage" and their own problems. They vowed to support this little boy and each one promised to use their own unique gift to teach him how to function in the world and in their family. The judge asks 11 year old, Victor, "do you agree to this adoption?" To which he nonchalantly says "yes" and then the parents promise to love him and take care of him. Judge says, "That's quite a family you have there. Ok, on this day, January 24, 2014, you have officially adopted Victor Graham. You are now legally their child. You have all the rights of any natural child." Now I know why my eyes were burning........ I can hear the voice again, only this time it's louder and more deliberate..........."On this day, in 1976, I AM adopting you, Gina Booth. You are my child and you have all the rights of any natural child." In all fairness, I have to admit that I didn't realize, just like this little boy on the show, what it meant when I became a part of God's family at age 12. I didn't know all of the "baggage" my fellow "family members" would bring or all of the issues that we would go through together. My Sunday school teachers and my parents and their friends all used their unique gifts to help me in my journey and like the little boy on the show, when my Heavenly Father said do you agree to this adoption I nonchalantly answered "yes," just as most 12 year olds would do. He then did as he promised he would. He gave me all of the "rights" of His natural son and promised to love me and take care of me. It's no wonder my eyes were burning and I couldn't get this scene off of my mind. I could watch it a hundred times and feel myself in Victor's place and know the joy that goes along with this moment.
The vastness of this promise didn't dawn on me until I was much older. The fact that God, the creator of everything, gave me the "right" to become his child, with all of the "rights" of His natural Son, Jesus, is something that is almost too much to comprehend. I found it amazing and so "God like" that he used a moment from a TV show to, once again, show me how much I am loved. I also feel compelled to say that just like any family, our Christian family, our church family, whatever you want to call it, is not perfect. We each bring our own baggage and issues but the bottom line is that we are all adopted by the same Father and He loves us all. "Yet to all who received Jesus, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children not of a natural descent, nor of human decision, but born of God." John 1:12-13
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
Isaiah 43:1
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