Oh, this one’s gonna be controversial! In relation to adoption, I often hear Christians say, things along the lines of: oh, we’d love to adopt, but we’re just waiting for the call! Now they don’t mean “the call” as in they’re waiting for a social worker to call them and tell them that they’ve been matched. They’re referring to receiving a call from God to adopt. Here’s my controversial statement… you don’t need to wait for the call!

There are plenty of verses in holy Scripture that refer to caring for orphans and the fatherless. The most well known among these verses is probably James 1:27, which reads, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” That is all the call you need! But it is also not a verse that those in the adoption community can shove down other Christians’ throats in an effort to make them adopt.

If you feel you’re interested in adopting, have a heart for orphans, and wish to grow your family through adoption, then adopt! You do not need to wait for the heavens to part and a booming voice from heaven to shout: Here is your call, it is now time to adopt. God speaks to his people through the Scripture and often uses others to minister to us and encourage us along. You’d be surprised at the amount of adoptive families who started their journeys after reading some crazy adoptive mama’s advocating on social media… or after reading an awesome blog post! (Wink, wink.)

Again, I am not saying that all Christians are mandated to adopt or should be guilt-tripped into adoption, because that is truly not my belief. It takes a whole lot of desire and determination to complete an adoption! But if you believe that you have the desire and determination to adopt, then move forward in faith.

As with any major life decision a Christian makes, you should consider adoption with prayer and godly counsel. But as long as you don’t encounter glaring roadblocks, you’re in the clear. Adopting is not violating God’s word. True, it’s a major life decision, but I bet that there are plenty of things that you didn’t wait to receive the call for. Buying a house? Taking a new job? Having biological kids? These are excellent things to pray about and seek godly counsel on, but chances are, most people don’t say that they’re waiting for the call on any of these things. They consider the options, pray, and move forward in Christian liberty.