He Wants You Back

By BJ Funk

My oldest son texted words that hit like a large brick thrown at my stomach. He wrote, “My birth mother passed.”

I wasn’t prepared for this. I remember that joyous moment when the lady with the adoption agency placed this baby in my arms. She said, “His birth mother had only one request; that he be put in a Christian home.”

Grace looked inside my heart that day and whispered, “This child is yours.” He was beautiful and perfect. He was perfectly beautiful. He still is. It was instant love for me. My gratitude to her gained a permanent place in my heart. Though I didn’t know her, I knew her. And, whatever her reasons, she gifted me with her child. I don’t know how she did it.

I prayed for her. I cried for her. And from the minute he was placed in my arms, it was as if there were two mothers rearing this precious boy. At first, I thought of her every day. I thought of her at milestones in his life and wished I could have let her know. I prayed for her at every birthday, joyous that he was mine but wishing he could somehow also be hers.

The adoption lady called when he was not quite a year. His birth mother married, and wanted to see if she could get him back. The law said that wasn’t possible. Just the thought of something like that happening made me weak. However, I was so grateful that I had something to tell my son when he was old enough to understand. She wanted him back. One day that would ring in his ears and gratitude would touch his soul. She wanted him back.

I can’t imagine how she dealt with that.  So, I prayed for her. I cried for her. And my gratitude grew even larger.

I loved being a mother. She gave up so that I could have. And now she was gone.

Eventually, my son wanted to meet her. I knew it was risky. What if she turned him down? I did not want him to be hurt.  He and I went to the courthouse files to find her name. Then, I contacted an adoption agency in our state. That led to our having a phone number to call her. It was exciting and frightening at the same time. I was comforted, however, in that, after her marriage, she wanted him back. Knowing that gave me a spotlight into her soul, and I believed her soul was good.

Our first conversation was positive. Later, my son and his wife flew out to meet them. You know how we say that God took care of something beyond our expectation? Well, he did it again.

She and her family embraced them both. and thus began a tradition. Now they fly to be with his family every Christmas. The man his birth mother married calls him “son.” He is included in their family reunions and in their Christmas letter to friends. Amazingly, I also get one of those letters. I met her once. Like her son, she was beautiful. My constant gratitude for how God worked all of this out humbles me.

Is there a Jesus story here? I’m glad you asked.

Long after sin snatched away our innocence in the Garden of Eden, crushing us with evil’s grasp, Jesus knelt before his Father and heard, “Son, it’s time for our plan. I want my children back.”

Jesus was nailed to the cross. He bled and died. He conquered the power of sin over us. He took back what belonged to Him when He said on the cross, “It is finished.”

He took you back. Sin will always be crouching at your door, but it does not have power over you. Why? Because God took you back. You are free from sin’s control.

That should stir up a large hallelujah somewhere deep inside your soul.

B.J. Funk is Good News’ long-time devotional columnist and author of  It’s A Good Day for Grace, available on Amazon.