I Am Adopted by Susan L.

  I learned another historical treasure from the wonderful ladies I met with at Singing Waters. In the days when Rome was a mighty power to be reckoned with, they had a law. Natural born children could be disowned by their parents.
  Being disowned meant having no legal claim to any inheritance or support whatsoever. Being disowned would cancel the birth right of citizenship. Genteel education would be tossed out the window. Food and shelter would have to be fought for in the brutal, urban jungle. Depending on the age of the child, being disowned could be a death sentence. Execution by abandonment.
  It's a grim thought this practice still happens today even in the wealthiest of countries. God have mercy on us.
  In Roman times, if this same family adopted a child, regardless of their own wealth or circumstances, they were bound by law to provide for and raise the child because they had chosen her or him to be part of their family.
  One of the first questions I asked the Lord was, "Who am I?" The next question soon followed and is one every child asks, "Where did I come from?"
  A lot of my recent healing has surrounded my own adoption as an infant.
  Thanks to modern technology, I know my genetic roots. DNA has shown me there are oodles of blood relatives out there.
  Thanks to modern technology, I have learned a lot about the devastating impact adoption can have on both mother and the surrendered child. In knowing these things, my heart has filled with compassion.
  I've also found an incredibly deep gratitude for the woman who gave me life and the parents who chose to raise me as their own.
  What I love the most is how God uses the world and its ways to point to His heart.
  All the scriptures that teach us we are adopted sons and daughters of our heavenly Father were a lesson based around Roman law at the time.
  Knowing I, we, are adopted into His family means it's always been a forever arrangement.
  Wow.
  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined u to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." Eph 1:3-5