Book Review ~ Adopted for Life

This week, I plan on posting a series of book reviews for all the "fun books" I was able to read over Christmas break.  It is now time for my husband and I to begin another semester at our seminary, so I know my time for reading "fun books" will be eliminated for a few months (not that my required seminary reading isn't loads of fun!)  All of the books I got into were excellent, and I hope you'll be able to read a few of them as well.  

ADOPTED FOR LIFE  - By Russell Moore

• I purchased this book on my Kindle when I saw it on sale for $3.99 back in October, and it was the first book I read once classes were out for Christmas break.  It's an excellent piece that gets to the heart of Christian adoption.
• I appreciated Moore's first chapter, "Adoption, Jesus, and You," very much.  He does a great job of showing how adoption is a beautiful picture of the gospel, and he drives home the truth that, as believers, we are all adopted as children of God.
• I also appreciate Moore's personal anecdotes of his own adoption of his two sons.  His stories are humorous, heart-warming, tear-jerking, and honest.  He also tells other humorous tales of rude personal questions, awkward adoption moments, and he and his wife's sad experiences with infertility.
• This book is not really a guide to adoption, but Moore does detail some of the basics of what one can expect when adopting.  He also gives some practical advice for living as a multiracial family, for the church stepping up to support adoption, and for knowing if adoption is right for your family.
• The best thing about this book is that it is really a book about missions. I heart missions!

Some of my favorite quotes:

"Adoption is not just about couples who want children--or who want more children.  Adoption is about an entire culture within our churches, a culture that sees adoption as part of our Great Commission mandate and as a sign of the gospel itself."

"What do we say about ourselves when we know the layout of a house on a television drama better than the layout of our next-door neighbor's home?"

"The protection of children isn't charity.  It isn't part of a political program fitting somewhere between tax cuts and gun rights or between carbon emission caps and a national service corps.  It's spiritual warfare."

"Missionaries often say--and rightly-- that the question one should ask is not whether he is called to missions but how."

"Adoption is evangelistic to the core.  When a Christian family adopts a child, that family is committing to years of gospel proclamation, of seeking to see this child come to faith in Christ."

"Adopted is a past-tense verb, not an adjective."


Katie @ Adopting From Bulgaria also posted a review of this book on her blog last week.  Here's the link to her review.  Plus, she has a pretty cool adoption blog too.  Check it out!

Thanks for reading,

-Shelly