November is National Adoption Awareness Month. Adoption is very special to me. It is the way my family was formed.   

There are all types of adoptions, but there is one thing all adoptions have in common: purpose. Every adoption is done on purpose. Adoption is pursued and planned. 

Eight years ago this month we stood before a judge with our three newest children and he declared what our hearts had already declared, we were a family of nine.  

Adoption is a commitment. We commit to love and protect and provide and prefer our children. It is a binding, both legally and spiritually, relationship. So what if it doesn’t work out? 

Relationships can be complicated. There can be personality clashes, old wounds that haven’t healed, memories that haunt or even resentment and unforgiveness. And then sometimes, sadly, people just don’t care and won’t even try. On the other hand relationships are so basically simple. People can be willing to tolerate differences, to forgive, grow, and heal. 

It is a terrible tragedy when relationships fail, marriages end in divorce or adoptions are disrupted. There is sure to be plenty of pain and hurt. But we all know that these things do happen. Love is risky. People are people. Relationships can truly be complicated.  

So why in the world would we even try? Why would we marry, adopt, love or commit when there is such a great risk involved? 

Because there is also such great hope! So many great possibilities! So much potential!  Relationships, family, and love are all worth every ounce of any risk involved.  

Family begins with two people, who are not related, committing to one another. And sometimes it grows by the birth of children, and sometimes it grows by the adoption of children and always it grows because we choose to open our hearts to people we love and cherish. 

Many times people hesitate when considering adoption, wondering if they can love a child that is not biologically theirs. What if it doesn’t work out? What if the relationship fails? What if there are personality clashes? What if a million things? 

If you are going to focus on the ‘what ifs’ you’re going to live a life full of fear. If you are going to avoid any emotional risks, you’re going to live a life of loneliness. If you refuse to see the possibilities, the potential, you’re going to live a limited life. And this is no way to live.  

Adoption is in its own right is the beginning of a whole new life, a whole new way of living and breathing. It certainly was for us. Adoption altered the way we viewed the world. Once adoption became a stepping stone of possibilities rather than a stumbling block of impossibilities, everything changed.  

When we adopted our children, I had a new understanding of the profound love that God has for us. Adoption is a spiritual concept that is powerfully life-changing. I am so thankful for the option of adoption. 

Stephanie Rodda is an Alabama Author, blogger, speaker and freelance writer.  

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