We’ve long since lost track of the times we’ve heard this from someone making a decision to place a child for adoption. It’s easy to pass this off as a cliche, platitude or romanticized wishful thinking. Maybe a distant emotional echo of a better time and place in someone’s life.
A deeper reflection makes us think, “Why would they make this request? What hope does it reveal in their thinking for the child in mind?” Is it a thinly veiled confession of things not well inside. An outreach of redemption, a fresh and better start for a brand new and untainted life.
And why a Christian home? Perhaps a home in the tropics, by the beach, in the mountains or simply a wealthy home. Does Christian mean a specific theology? A particular denomination, a style of worship or type of building? Does it mean warm Christmas holidays and colorful Easter celebrations and sincerely grateful Thanksgiving dinners?
Here’s what we’ve heard and seen from the hearts and minds that make this request:
It means hope for goodness, for kindness, forgiveness, gentleness, patience, stability, love and joy. It means dependability, trustworthiness and a real connection to God.
It’s a deep longing from an incompletely informed place for the Fruits of The Spirit and the lives that are guided and formed by them. Wherever and however these requests come to be spoken the need is real and this is why we always say, “We need Christian families!”
