Imagine branches tightly bound ...

                                                             Photo by Kirsten Hunter Rose, 2021

I opened this blog page for the very first time and was surprised to be asked to come up with a title on the spot.  I first froze and then realized I needed some creative inspiration quick ... a catchy, clever idea that would draw readers in and depict our growing hearts for ADOPTION.  How could I settle on a simple name that would set the tone for this journey?  How could I come up with a title that birth moms and dads would take the time to consider?  I paused and asked God for a whisper of his word and then it came.  Like a breath of fresh air I was given the image of a beautiful ingrafted branch.  I saw a strong, sturdy brown branch connected to a baby green shoot, and they both were thriving together! 

I am not an expert gardener, but from what I can gather, grafting is an agricultural technique used to create new life.  Two different plants are joined into one and characteristics of both plants are combined together.  The younger branch remains tightly bound to the more mature parent plant.  Often twine or yarn helps establish this step.  Eventually the new shoot takes root and is firmly planted in the larger branch, sharing the same sap and growing steadily upward.

Isn't this an incredible picture of adoption? We believe a child can be carefully grafted into a family and nourished just like the little shoot tied to the mature branch. With God's help, the new addition can  healthily join to the adoptive family unit and sink roots that flourish.

Romans 11 in the Bible illustrates how God grafted different people groups together to form His complete family.  Our Creator does not restrict his family to one, original ethnicity or bloodline.  He invites all people who trust in the hope of His son to participate in His family lineage!  What glorious hope this offers us as Christians!  Today our family rejoices in the fact that we are adopted into the Kingdom of God like ingrafted branches chosen by a loving Gardener.

Our hope is that one day soon a set of birth parents will see the value of selecting us to be the forever family their little one is grafted into.  We pray daily for a tight connection with an adoptee and for nourishing sap to overflow from our home.  It would be a JOY and HONOR to graft in an infant or young child that would combine with our characteristics and remain with us for life!