Hey! I read this from a book I'm currently reading. Don't know if you all have read before but thought I would just share. It's a bit long, but do read! It's by Mike Bickle.

"Some friends of mine remained childless after twenty-three years of marriage, much prayer, two major surgeries to correct infertility, endless rounds of testing and treatment, and the expenditure of thousands of dollars. Refusing to be spiritually barren as well, the couple had decided long ago to invest their lives in the kingdom of God by ministering to others. The wife earned a doctorate so she could serve God more effectively in her calling. The husband, a successful businessman, became salt and light through the political offices he held in the metroplex where they lived.

Then God surprised them. A courageous young woman cancelled the abortion she had scheduled for the nest day, carried her baby full term, and gave it up for adoption at birth, with the stipulation that the infant be placed in the home of a Christian couple who would rear the child for God. You guessed it. Through a series of divine coincidences and interventions, my friends, who hadn't even had their names on an adoption list because they were considered over the age limit to adopt, were blessed with a beautiful little boy just a few days old.

The elated couple understood that completing all the legal paperwork that established the baby's status as a member of their family was only a beginning. The greatest task lay ahead - that of establishing a deep, secure relationship of love between their adopted baby and themselves. They knew they would love their little son devotedly whether or not he ever returned their love, but they set out to win the child's love by demonstrating their love and affection for him.

Bathed in an atmosphere of love and stability, along with many hugs and kisses, their son became a picture of contentment and security.

Time passed, and one afternoon as the couple drove up in front of their home, their little boy exclaimed, "My house!" It was indeed. Everything that hard-working father and mother owned had been willed to him from the moment he had become a member of their family. All they had was his.

Then the day came when the couple's little son began to return their affection. His father kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "I love you," just as he had done a thousand times before. The little boy looked up, smiled, and said for the first time, "I love you, too!" The father's heart melted. He told this story to everyone whether they were interested in hearing or not.

Whe he felt was just a small expression of what our heavenly Father feels when His children begin passing beyond the stage of self-centered receiving and start returning love back to Him.

We will never exhaust the fullness of the depth of love that God has demonstrated for us by making us His sons and daughters in His own house. As J.I. Packer writes in his book Knowing God, "The New Testament gives us two yardsticks for measuring God's love. The first in the cross (1 John 3:1); the second is the gift of sonship (1 John 3:1). Of all the gifts of grace, adoption is the highest."

God the Father adopted you and me as His children, gave Himself to us as our loving Father, and made us fellow heirs with Jesus because He chose to, not because He had to. "

:)