I grew up in a traditional home with a mother and father and four siblings. So, I have not lived through an adoption. However, I have been adopted. I am a child of God and He is my Father! Typing that sentence gives me chills because it means so much to me.

When I was in my early twenties, I got a frantic phone call from my grandmother in the middle of the night. Nanny told me that if I wanted to see my parents ever again, I had to hurry up to Virginia. At the time, I had an infant and a husband in the military. But we packed as quickly as we could, not really understanding what was going on, and rushed from South Carolina to Virginia, only to find out that we were too late. My parents and three of my siblings had disappeared. Literally. I did not know where they were for two years. Two years! I felt like an orphan, even though I knew I had parents somewhere. As it turns out, they had fled to Florida, from loan sharks, drug dealers, or someone. (It depended on when and to whom daddy was telling the story of their flight; the people he was fleeing from changed frequently.). But my feeling of abandonment did not change.

During those two years, part of what my husband and I did led to my being able to withstand not knowing where my parents were. Harry separated from the military and we went to Youth with a Mission in New Jersey to devote ourselves to study God’s Word. We sold all that we could to be able to attend the school. Ten or more hours a day were spent in classes or meditation or prayer. It was here that I really learned to depend on God as my Father. After all, the man that I called “daddy” my entire life had disappeared. So I got closer and closer to God, so close that I could feel His arms around me when I wanted to reach out and call mamma and tell her something cute that Hope had just learned to do. Or so close that when I was disappointed or hurting over something, like the demands that YWAM put on its attendees, I felt God whisper in my ear that He was there and it would all be okay. For an entire year, we lived at the YWAM compound in New Jersey. I got phone calls and visits from the FBI because they were looking for my father. You know what? So was I. But I had found a Father who would never leave me, never abandon me, a Father who would always be there for me to call on. I was strong because I knew that my Heavenly Father would look out for me.

So, no, I’m not adopted, but I do kind of understand what being an orphan is like. I know what it is not to have parents to depend on or to share things with. But, even better, I know what it is like to pray and hear a still, small voice answer me in love and encouragement. God is real! I am His daughter! And you can choose to be a part of His family, too. You may never suffer the sudden loss of your parents as I did, knowing that they still lived somewhere, but not knowing where they are. But you need God, the Father, just as much as I did. He is always present, always comforts, always answers. His love for me (and you) is beyond my understanding, but I know it is real, just as He is real. I had been a Christian for about two years when my parents disappeared. And losing them led me closer to God because I was so needy. I felt really special because the Lord God Almighty looked down from Heaven, saw me and saw that I needed some special TLC. So He gave it to me.

You are special to God, also. He wants you to be a part of His family. Belonging is simple. You just have to confess your sins to Him and ask Him to come into your heart. Then the changing begins. As a child of the King, you will want to live to please Him. You will want to read His Word more so that you find out more about the mystery that is our God. If you are already a Christian, maybe you need to do what I did those four decades ago and truly claim your place in His family, knowing that He is your Father and He is waiting for you to call on Him.

I remember being rocked by my daddy when I was a small child. I suffered with asthma and was up many nights struggling to breathe. My daddy would lift me up, put me on his shoulder and rock me, soothing me with the words that comforted me and helping me to calm down so I could breathe. That mental image stays with me today, but nowadays, it is the Heavenly Father lifting me up and holding me, whispering the words that I need to hear just to keep going. He will do the same for you. Just believe!

Blessings, my friends, for a day filled with the knowledge of the Lord and your place in His family!