I found this devotion in my memories from 2018 and decided I wanted to repost it. My grandson, Carter, mentioned in this devotion is now back in Boise and I am so blessed!
June 30, 2018
Carter, our oldest grandson, and I visited a local Bosnian restaurant on Monday. The food was delicious. I think I have found a new “favorite” place. Carter and I laughed and talked for about an hour and a half. It was fun, but it was also sad. He is leaving early July for Western Oregon.
Monday as we sat there, I looked at this now grown 6’2” man and remembered the little boy I first knew. Carter came into our life “ready-made” when he was a baby. He’s been my “bud” since he was around two when his parents moved to Idaho. There were a few years where we spent almost every Saturday together. We’d have breakfast at IHOP, then go off on some adventure, grab a little lunch, and finish the day at Baskin-Robbins where he would make me tell him what all the 31-Flavors were before he made his choice.
I’ve taken him on a plane to California, train rides, a car trip to Eastern Idaho to see the T-Rex Named Sue, and lots of other places. We spent a week in Washington DC together, just the two of us when he turned 18. We’ve visited museums, new art exhibits, tea shops and ethnic restaurants. And we have talked about everything, no subject off limits. Now he is going off on his own and I am going to miss him greatly.
A couple of us were talking about adoption the other evening. I said that while Carter has none of my DNA, he has all of my heart. From the first moment I saw those blue eyes and blond curls I was hooked, line and sinker!
Adoption is one of the most beautiful words in any language. It is especially beautiful in God’s language.
“In love [God our Father] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” [Eph 1:4-7 NIV]
