What a joy and breath of fresh air it was photographing this family a few weeks ago. Brent and Elizabeth have hearts overflowing with passion. I was lucky enough to have them share some of that passion with us. They write:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5

JI Packer once wrote, “If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means he does not understand Christianity very well at all.”

When you are gripped by the fact that you, a sinner deserving of God’s righteous wrath, were adopted by God and given the full rights and privileges of Jesus, it changes everything about how you live. For us, it changed our hearts about not only the size of our family but what our family might look like to others. There are different skin tones in our family. There are different origins in our family. These are reflective of the truths of the gospel that saved us. God chose a people for himself from every nation, tongue, and tribe and made them his own beloved children in and through Christ. The church is a beautiful reflection of that truth as we worship together with those that don’t look like us and perhaps have a vastly different background than we do. Adoption makes us family. This is true in His Church and it is true in our home.

We have three children that look very similar to their mom and dad. Nothing will ever change the fact that they are our children. We have one child that was abandoned as an infant in a field in Ethiopia. Nothing will ever change the fact that she is our child. We have two children that were frozen in a lab for 10+ years and by many would have been viewed as less than human. Nothing will ever change the fact that they are our children. We were changed forever because God adopted us in Christ. May God be pleased to use our family to reflect that change to the world.