Family and Adoption

Deep longing for a child leads to adoption - and inspiring lessons are learned along the way!

By Joan Koelle Snipes

Categories: Family, Gratitude, Guidance

When I was a young wife, I longed to have children. Although my husband didn't share my intense desire, he was willing to add to our family.

As the years went by and we seemed no closer to building our family, I sometimes felt discouraged. However, I kept praying. "God setteth the solitary in families....," a verse from Psalm 68, was a comforting promise for me.

From my Bible study and the insights of a friend, I began to understand that I could not lack any good thing. I felt a great deal of hope and joy when I studied chapter 54 of Isaiah. Although I didn't know how this Biblical promise would be fulfilled in our lives, I treasured these words: "all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children" (Isaiah 54:13).

At one point, my friend recommended that I study the tenth commandment, which begins: "Thou shalt not covet..." (Exodus 20:17). At first I felt a little offended at this suggestion. I loved children and enjoyed being around them, but certainly did not begrudge any parents having them. In other words, I felt I was not coveting anyone's children. In humility, I looked up the word covet in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary and found this: "To desire; to long for, especially something belonging to another person." Suddenly, I realized that excessive longing for something, even children, was breaking this commandment. I humbly prayed to let go of the excessive longing I felt for a child.

As it turned out, the baby I once longed for never came. Instead,two little girls, sisters aged two and three, joined our family through adoption. Words simply cannot express my gratitude for this blessing. Their presence in our family has brought all of us great joy.

"God setteth the solitary in families..." (Psalm 68:6). This and other Biblical promises have been fulfilled in our lives. My hope is that our experience will inspire others to persist in their prayers and enjoy the blessings that such prayer brings.