Adopted Son

This is me baptizing my son, Micah Nicholas Bishop. He was Born April 18th, 2011 at 11:00pm Tuesday before Easter of that year. We met him 15 hours later. Walking by the nursery window there were two babies. One was sleeping in a little cot, the other was being snuggled and loved by one of the nurses. One of them was about to become our son. We didn’t know which one.

Heather and I paused briefly at the nursery window, both wondering the same thing, “Which baby is our son?” A few moments later we arrived at the recovery room door and knocked. It’s hard to explain that moment. We found out about Micah yesterday. We’re about to meet his birthmother. We went in.

The next hour passed perfectly! Tears. Laughter. A profound sense of gratitude and joy. Sorrow. Love. It ended with pictures and Micah’s birth mom saying, “Well, go meet him!”

We did – he was the one being snuggled by the nurse. Nine days later we brought Micah into our home as our adopted son.

While we waited those very long nine days, we celebrated Easter with our church family.

The Gospel, is a story about Jesus faithfully enduring His ‘bitter cup’ so that we might become adopted sons and daughters. The incalculable selflessness of this act is overwhelming.

“…We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship…”

romans 8:23

I know something of the waiting, groaning, and eagerness of adoption. I also know the joy of being a father. When I think about the intensity of my love for my kids, and, how little I understood that love before becoming a father, I can only extrapolate and imagine how much God must love us.

If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

Luke 11:13

A professor of mine once told me that you can’t truly understand the gospel until you become a father. I think he was right. Though, what I’ve discovered about God’s grace and compassion through adoption, adds a richness and depth to what my professor shared.

Adoption is beautiful. But adoption doesn’t start with celebration, it’s starts with loss. It’s okay to mourn the loss. You must mourn the loss. It is in honestly and authentically mourning the loss that you can truly embrace the blessing.

God endured the unthinkable to make our adoption into His family possible. On Good Friday we remember and mourn that sacrifice. On Easter, we celebrate. An adopted son. An adopted daughter.

We were adopting Micah over Easter weekend in 2011. So when I got to baptize him on Easter Sunday in 2018, it was a very special day for our family.

Buried with Him in death. Raised to walk in newness of life.

Happy Easter.