In 1999, we adopted our oldest daughter from Russia. She was ten years old when she became part of our family, joining a five-year-old brother and a three-year-old sister. She had no possessions in the orphanage — they even made her give back her toothbrush before she left! She came to America timid and a little bit fearful. Were we giving her new clothes only to take them away later? Would this be forever or would it be another temporary home like her parents’ house and like the orphanage?

We have done our best for 13 years to convince her that she never needs, as Paul says, “to fall back into fear.” She has received the gift of adoption, and will always be a member of our family, just as we have been adopted into God’s family.

Remember today that if you will be led by the Spirit of God, then you are a child of God.

By Steve Cothran from D365