14 The Adoption
Linda received the shock of her life shortly after her parents died. She was trying to gather some medical information to compile a family history to give to her doctor, when she came across old records showing that she was adopted. She confronted her uncle, who then revealed that her parents were not her real parents. She had been adopted when she was just a couple months old. Her parents had asked her uncle not to tell Linda, so he kept their secret for over 40 years. He had no idea who the birth mother was, only that she gave birth to Linda in a small town 20 miles from where Linda lived.
Linda was so torn up emotionally, but she decided that she need to find out about her biological parents. Are they still alive? Why did they give her up for adoption? Did they love her at all? Would they even want to hear from her?
When Linda drove to the town, she found out that the hospital she was born in had closed down years ago. Not knowing what else to do, Linda went to the local newspaper and took an ad out and let it run for a couple months. In the ad, Linda described her situation and all the details she knew: her parents' name were Isaac and Kelly Johnson, the name of the hospital, and so on. Linda desperately hoped that someone could give her a lead on the whereabout of her birth parents.
A few months pass by and Linda has pretty much given up all hope of finding anything about her birth parents, when she receives a call:
"Hello Linda, my name is Janine. Over 40 years ago, I fell in love with a young man. However, he left me when he found out that he had gotten me pregnant. I was urged to have an abortion, but I refused. A beautiful baby girl was born to me. I did my best to raise her on my own, but it was very hard being a single mother, especially back in those days. A social worker visited me periodically to make sure my baby and I were doing okay. One day, the social worker visited me and asked me to sign some papers that would make sure my baby would have a good and healthy life. I didn't want to sign these papers at first, because I didn't understand what they were for, but the social worker pressured me to sign."
"One day I came home after work and my baby was gone! I was frantic and about to call the police when the social worker stopped by and explained to me that she had to take my baby away from me, that my baby needed a better environment to grow up in. The social worker told me that a Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were unable to conceive and looking to adopt. They were a loving a couple and could provide more for my baby. I cried and cried as the social worker tried to console, letting me know that this was for the best. The Johnsons told the social worker that they would keep my baby's name."
"I didn't know where the Johnsons moved off to, so the only thing I could think of was to search the paper every day, hoping against hope that maybe there would be some information that could lead me to find my daughter again. I have been searching the paper every day without fail for the past 40 years, Linda, until I came across your ad. I've finally found you, Linda. I've finally found my daughter after all these years."
Linda burst into tears and cried with her mother. Linda didn't have to ask whether or not her mother loved her.
Jesus has been searching for you your entire life. When Satan caused Adam and Eve to sin, he took all of mankind away from God. However, Jesus did not give up on humanity. He loves us so much that He took on the form of humanity Himself and died for our sins so that we can come back to God. Will you answer Jesus' call?
- Recommended reading: 1 John 4:14-19
