"He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name."

Psalm 147:4

This isn’t my whole story. But it is the beginning. It is a beginning that brings glory to Jesus, as I pray the rest of my life will.

 

Even before I was born, God was working in my life. In Guatemala, my biological mother found out she was pregnant with me at the very young age of 14. She was scared and decided to go to an abortion clinic. When she arrived at what she thought was an abortion clinic, she discovered that it was actually a care and outreach facility led by a group of nuns. One of the nuns lovingly presented another option to my biological mother, encouraging her to see how beautiful it would be to give her baby, me, a chance at life.

 

As a young woman, my biological mom didn’t have a stable home life, and she knew she couldn’t raise me. The nun she met was connected to an organization that supports young pregnant women as well as helps put the babies up for adoption for those who couldn’t raise them.

 

My biological mother knew she couldn’t raise me, and she, too, was just a kid herself, but she wanted to give me life. She was so brave and chose life, even in the midst of poverty, fear and a society that shunned girls like her. With the help of nuns and the home for pregnant mothers, they were able to provide her with pre-natal care, shelter, food and support and connect her with a family to adopt her baby.

 

Thousands of miles away, there was an American family wanting to adopt. They were ministers and were active in missions around the world. They spent many years trying to adopt a child and kept running into one roadblock after another. The adoption process was difficult and costly, but they belived the Lord told them they were to adopt, so they persevered through many challenges. Finally, through Lutheran Family Services, they were made aware of a young expectant mother in Guatemala who wanted to put her baby up for adoption.

 

This was when God appointed me into my family. As the Bible teaches us in Psalm 68:6 that, “God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity.” God had a plan to put me with my family. In fact, the woman that watched over me until the courts completed the process and my forever family could bring me home, prayed every day, specifically, that God would place me in a pastor’s home. She wept when she discovered that my new mother was a pastor.  

 

About a month before the court date to finalize my adoption, my parents got a notice from the government that they were shutting down adoption from this region of the world and that they may have to give me up. They immediately began fasting and praying because they had already met me, spent time with me in Guatemala and there was no way they were going to just believe that report. During that week, my adoptive father had a dream that was like a vision. He said in this dream, we (he, my mom, me and my two older sisters) were all enjoying a picnic in a field next to a fast-moving river. It was a pleasant, sunny day and I was chasing butterflies. In the dream, all of a sudden, I was gone and they all realized I had been sucked into the river. My dad said he stood up, calmly in unexplainable peace, and simply stepped into the rushing waters that went up to his waist. In the dream, he was able to walk steadily on the floor of the river, without being affected by the current. He walked smoothly, and faster than the current and caught up to me, plucked me from the roiling water and returned with me in his arms upstream as easily as walking on dry ground. When he awoke, he told the dream to my mother and said he believed God was showing us that we would be bringing Gloria home, no matter what. And 4 weeks later, that is exactly what happened. (Acts 2:17)

 

I was born on May 23, 2007, and as soon as I was born, I was immediately part of my new family. I was a member of the Lynch family. It took a while until my family could take me home because Guatemala was trying to shut down adoption, but my parents fought hard because they knew undoubtedly that I was their little girl. They prayed and fasted and would come visit me. My adopted mother wept on the plane back because I was in her heart, but not yet in her arms. Over a year after my birth, my family finally got to bring me home.

 

I belong in my forever family in every way. God was working in my life even before I was born, and he continues His work in my life now, loving me, guiding me, and calling me into His arms. I got to understand the “spirit of adoption” even before my ultimate salvation. Jesus paid the ultimate price to adopt me into the family of God. My God is so good.

 

If anyone reading this feels alone, unwanted, unimportant, or worthless – please hear me when I tell you, God sees you, knows you and most importantly loves you. He is ready and wanting to welcome you home – all you need do is, like myself, repent of sin, ask Him to come into your life and surrender to His will and work on your behalf. And you too, can experience the power and extreme love found through adoption.

 

Romans 8:1-2, 15, 38

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

 

“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

 

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

2 Corinthians 6:18

“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

 

My adoptive mom has always taught me to pray for and embrace my biological mother. I believe God will hold her in His arms, guiding her, so that one day, I will be reunited with her in heaven, and we can all celebrate together the love and redemptive work of Jesus.