I was fortunate to grow up in a home with both my father and mother.

Although it started out kind of rough for them — my dad was black and my mom is white — they hung in there through prejudice against them, and made it work! That was unusual 60 years ago.
That they stayed together has been a real gift and glowing example to me when things got rough in my own marriage.
As great as my parents were, though, there was always something in me that wanted to be adopted! There was something glamorous about it in my mind. I remember searching the attic for “adoption papers” to prove I was adopted. There were none (smile).
I realize a lot of people don’t know the security of seeing parents walk through the good and the bad for over 50 years, and actually fulfill their vows of: “til death do us part.” But one of the greatest joys of my heart has been to see friends and strangers come to know the love of a Father who will never leave them nor forsake them, who promised to be there for eternity.
God, our Heavenly Father, loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to make a way for us to be adopted into His family. When I believed that Jesus was God’s Son, the Heavenly Father adopted me as His own child. “He came into the world — the world he had created — and the world failed to recognize him. He came to his own creation, and his own people would not accept him. Yet wherever men did accept him he gave them the power to become sons of God.”
(John 1:11, 12 JB Phillips) We are not “all God’s children” until we accept what Jesus did for us on the cross. So, it turns out, I was adopted after all!
Have you ever wanted to be adopted into a caring family and know the security of a loving Father who wants only the best for you? One who will spend time with you and encourage you to be all He created you to be? Well, Jesus made a way for you, just like He did for me.
Your life does not have to be all together or perfect to be part of God’s family.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost and orphaned. By accepting Jesus’ gift, bought for you on the cross, you can know the love of the Heavenly Father. He formed and created you. He has an amazing plan to prosper and bless you. It’s as simple as asking, and believing that Jesus has made it possible.
When you are truly a child of God, you will discover that you have brothers and sisters of all shapes and sizes, colours and persuasions, because God accepts us all when we come to Him. Why not come to the Father today and join the family?
Oh, and Happy Father’s Day!