This week, as we move beds around and put new beds together, this passage keeps coming back to me. It is because of the love of Jesus and our faith in His promise that we have made this decision to adopt. We already have two children and could have more if we wanted to. It's not about filling a need for us. We're being driven by love...perfect love.
Normally, like any couple I imagine, we fight when putting furniture together. Nuts and bolts are flying, directional skills are challenged and red-headed tempers flair! But this was different somehow. There was no irritation. We worked beautifully as a team. It caught us both by surprise. This verse kept singing over me. We were simply doing what Jesus is doing for us all...preparing a place for us as a show of good faith that there WILL be a home coming.
When I was pregnant with Levi and then with Noah, I did the same thing. I picked out colors and themes. I arranged furniture and pictures on the walls. Then and now, in the background was the fatherly, "do they really need that?" Then and now, I would explain, "I'm nesting! Let me nest!" They are not MY babies. They are not babies at all. And that makes me work a little harder on their "nests." Unlike a baby, they will be aware of the detail that went into their rooms. I want their rooms to say, "My new family wanted me. My new family prepared for me. My new family wanted me to feel at home here." And in the process, we are also working on Levi and Noah's quarters. I want them to feel a special place in "the nest", too.
I feel like God must understand how my heart feels. He had a "birth family", so to speak. And yet, he chose to adopt me through grace and bring me into His forever family. He's preparing a place for me now. I bet my room's a lot cooler than this:
The nest is not quite done. More pics to come later.
I related to this post! This bedroom you are putting together will mean so much to them... You are putting a tremendous amount of love and effort into their homecoming, and they will feel it!
ReplyDeleteWhen we were asked by Buckner if we would consider adopting a legal risk baby, I didn't even know if this baby would even come home and see the room we were putting together. But for me, it was so important that he come home to a room that said, "you were loved before you even got here. You were prepared for." Wade was a newborn, so I'm sure he didn't notice the quilt on the wall, etc. But it just started us off right. So keep on nesting, mama!
Beth Purcell