Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
(1 Peter 2.17
NRSV)
Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, is a big advocate for adoption. He was an adopted child himself, and he is very grateful for the love and values his adoptive family gave him. Dave tells the story of Kandy, a teen who was adopted. Kandy had only been with her adoptive family for about a year when her birth father invited her to lunch, in the hopes of getting to know her and answer some of her questions. This man had been out of Kandy's life for a long time, due to his incarceration in prison. Kandy's parents were reluctant to let her go, because they were afraid that she might choose to go back to her birth father. But they encouraged her to go so that she might learn more about her history. They knew it was important for her identity and self esteem.
Kandy and her father had a good time at lunch. He answered, to the best of his ability, the dozens of questions she had been storing up for so long. When Kandy's adoptive parents arrived at the end of the lunch, Kandy did something unexpected. In the year that she had lived with her adoptive parents, Kandy never touched or hugged her father. But now she reached out and linked arms with her adoptive dad. Grabbing the container with her lunch leftovers, she said, "Papa, take me out to the parking lot. I want to put my lunch in the car." It was just a small gesture, but it announced to the world that Kandy was committed to her new family.
We also need to be committed to our family of faith.
Dear God, draw me close to your family. Amen.
Ron Newhouse
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