God's Heart for Orphans and Widows, Deuteronomy 24

 Deuteronomy 24 - ESVBible.org

It is amazing how much is in Scripture on orphans and widows (or helpless) and it is so easy to read over.

From today's reading, we shouldn't punish children for the sins of their parents.

"“Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.

So, if a child was born under poor circumstances with irresponsible parents, God is saying, "it's not their fault."  

And goes on to speak of we should feel some individual responsibility, that involves a personal material sacrifice, for the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow.   This was written obviously to an agrarian society but the principles are the same.

“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge, but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.
“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this."

 


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“We Said Yes to Adoption” // June Mission Moment | Lifesong Blog | Lifesong for Orphans

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)

"Adoption. One of the most beautiful pieces of the Gospel. An all-powerful and loving Father God chose us, in our sinfulness, to be His sons and daughters. Does it get any better than that? The fact that we, as Christians, can replicate this relationship in our own families to tell the Gospel through our lives is an complete honor and joy."

to read full post, visit:

“We Said Yes to Adoption” // June Mission Moment | Lifesong Blog | Lifesong for Orphans:

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Adoption thought: Who is like the Lord? Psalm 113

When we read this in the Bible know this is a rhetorical question:  Who is like the Lord?.  Anton is at the age where we can do devotions together.  Of course, I'd really like to find time for myself to do more in-depth study, and I haven't lately.  And I really miss that.  But at least I'm reading and sharing with Anton.  We use D. A. Carson's modified version of M'Cheyne's Reading Plan, as seen here and we try to read 4 chapters a day and talk about it.

In today's reading, I thought of adoption when I read Psalm 113.  Here is a copy/paste from ESV:

Praise the LORD!
Praise, O servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD!
Blessed be the name of the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the LORD is to be praised!
The LORD is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!
Who is like the LORD our God,
who is seated on high,
who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the LORD!

(Psalm 113 ESV)

But the last verses.  He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.  He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children.  Praise the LORD!  I also like the imagery of God in heaven looking down and working His sovereignty here on earth.  

I explained what "barren" means just gave Anton and hug and reminded him what a blessing is to us, and that we feel more blessed than he is, but he's blessed too.

Father's Day

I found an picture Anton made a long time ago, and thought it would be a nice post for Father's Day.  We were just going through all his old artwork the other day.

The boy and the girl in the picture are Chris and me.  The yellow figure is Jesus and he's holding Anton.  It says "I love God" on the top in symbols.  

I think he drew this after I explained to him that Jesus is in heaven and He placed you in our family.  OK, correction.  so I just asked him if that is what he was thinking when he drew this.  He said, "No, we're in heaven together."  And I asked what the red mat was underneath us.  That is a carpet going to Jesus.  So, we're all there together and not that we brought him to Jesus.  So, not quite what I thought when I started typing this post, but still a nice Father's Day post.  

Then he just hugged me and said, "I can't wait to see His glory, can't you?"  

Sweet boy.  

Our I-800 Is approved!!

We just our approval from Homeland Security.  Now that needs to be sent to Bulgaria, and for some reason, that can take a while.  But yippee.

Just to clarify, our I-800A was approved a few months ago.  This is not to be confused with I-800....which is when you have the specifics on who will adopt and final approval.

The officer who handled our case wrote a little note wishing us well, and commenting how precious our girls are.  Wow!  That is nice to have the extra personal touch from our government.

From what I understand, and now I could be mistaken, but this is what is needed to establish a court date in Bulgaria.  We are on the home stretch.

I think all the work we have to do keeps me "OK" with this waiting period.  But looking forward to some fun holidays.