Free to Adopt: A Guest Post by Christine

Hey new friends! I'm Christine, the designer behind Great Oak Circle, a studio that creates unique and fun branding elements for print and web. I'm excited to share a little of my life with you as a designer and most importantly as an adoptive mom.

My husband and I have long desired that adoption be part of our story, and not because we couldn't have kids, and not for humanitarian reasons (although neither of those are innately bad reasons). Our heart to adopt came from having a heart like Christ, whose Word clearly teaches about...and commands...the care of orphans. The Bible is full of adoption, indeed the Bible is based on adoption. Our adoption as sons of God (Romans 8), describes that the whole redemptive story, our salvation, is wrapped up in adoption. Not only that, the love of Joseph for Jesus, a child not his own, furthers the example for us as believers. And we don't have to stop there, but see more stories and commands from Christ to care for this special population. I'm fully convinced that God equips us for that which He calls us to. What encouragement as we started a journey that led through a failed adoption in one country, and a pile of paperwork for another country before landing us close to home in a domestic adoption.

Can I be super transparent? In the beginning I felt like domestic adoption was not for us, it wasn't enough somehow. Can I be prideful or what?! Then I heard a Spirit-filled sermon from our pastor about our stand against abortion and its direct correlation to caring for the sweet children born from all this counseling and preventing and choosing of life. Just think about that for a minute. Wow. So when we heard from a friend of a friend of a friend that a baby was due in 3 weeks, we spun our international home study into domestic and then we were parents. Our story was not without drama and anxiety and frustration, but it produced in me a new level of patience and trust in the sovereignty of God. Acts 16:9 continued to encourage my family of God's sovereignty even when circumstances and "good" plans were changing.

Our Levi is a 20 months old now, and while we didn't go through many attachment problems with an infant who only knew me as Mama, we did experience a refusal to accept our mixed race baby by a family member. We may always face questions about our choice to adopt, which sounds good to me, because I want to share the Gospel, and that door is WIDE open!

God has graciously blessed our family with Great Oak Circle and the ability to use my skills to minister, provide for my family, and spend time with Levi. I design logos, blogs, websites and print materials for small business owners and bloggers. I consult, teach and equip newbies to the online world, helping them make good business decisions and spend money wisely in design and advertising. I would love to tell you more about my design education, history and current services over on my website. If you're interested in a few free branding tips, I recently wrapped up a 31 Days series on Branding Your Biz or Blog.

I have also recently started an adoption ministry through Great Oak Circle called Free to Adopt. Every month I offer a free design project to a Christian family currently fund raising for a domestic or international adoption. I want my business and my talents to be dedicated to God, and this faith work has blessed me as much as the recipients. The design could be a t-shirt, a prayer/donation postcard, blog for an online auction, submission for an auction, or any other creative use of my skill set. The ministry is brand new and a little casual; I sort through and pray over those that email me and pick one. If you or a friend is interested in this ministry, please feel free to email me or connect by social media.

Thanks for chatting with me today. I hope to connect with you again soon,

Christine

Thanks, Christine, for sharing your story and ministry with us today!  Head over to Great Oak Circle and see what Christine has to offer. I love her work! 
Shared at the Tuesday Baby Link-Up.