God adopted us into his family so that we could be his children. Once we were not a family, but now we are the family of God. And now that we are in the family of God, we can enjoy abundant life and look after the needs of others from the blessings we receive…
“I will be your Father,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”
2Corinthians 6:18 NLT
I met a wonderful couple with a powerful story the other day on my bus tour in Europe. My new friend Albert and his wife are from Texas, although Albert was born in a small town outside of Monterrey, Mexico. They travel to Mexico to visit Albert’s family, and especially his mothers. Albert has two moms. It turns out that Albert and his wife Maria support his family financially, as it is difficult for them in Mexico. They were quick to share that they are not wealthy, and that supporting Albert’s family doesn’t take much. One of the family’s electric bills is only $30 every few months. It is, however, the thought and the heart that counts, and Albert and Maria have heart.
Albert shared that his mother became pregnant with him when she was 16 years old. It was a very difficult situation, and she was not prepared to be a mother at that time. After giving birth to Albert, when he was 30 days old, she took him to another family and left him with them. I was surprised at how he shared the story, and as his English was not fluent, I needed to ask a few more questions to clarify.
It turned out that his Godmother, a close friend of his mother, knew this family and asked them if they would be willing to take in little Albert. They were willing, and so his mother took him there with the great trust and faith that Albert would be taken care of by this family. The endorsement of his Godmother gave Albert’s mother confidence this was a good decision for him.
His family told him about his birth mom when he was seven years old and offered for him to have contact with her whenever he was ready. All these years later, Albert has a great relationship with both families, supporting them from his job as a pipefitter in the USA.
As Albert was telling me his story, I kept thinking about how God adopted us into his family so that we could be his children. Once we were not a family, but now we are the family of God. And now that we are in the family of God, we can enjoy abundant life and look after the needs of others from the blessings we receive.
Albert’s story is a bit of a pay-it-forward tale, and we have to remember that as people of grace who have received love and compassion from our heavenly Father, we are to share that back and forward to others who either contributed to the lives we enjoy or to those who need to receive the grace in which we stand.
Amen
Marc Kinna
marckinna 