A lonely Italian man who had
lived alone with seven cats since his passed
away 12 years ago has been adopted. 80 year-old
Giorgio Angelozzi advertised in the classifieds
seeking someone to "adopt" him as a grandfather.
The paper decided to place the man's plight on
the front page, and he was flooded with
responses. Though Angelozzi received offers from
as far away as New Zealand, Brazil, and the
United States, he decided to accept the offer of
a family from northern Italy.
Angelozzi's new home boasts a
garden with apple, cherry, and pomegranate trees
and a beagle to replace his cats. The family of
Marlena Riva adopted him. The Riva family says
what they really wanted was a grandfather. Riva
said, "This grandfather needs help and we need
him."Their daughter Dagmara added, "I just want
a grandfather, the rest isn't important."
As he prepared to leave for
his new home, Angelozzi said, "I will become a
grandfather—this was my plan. I will have the
affection of this woman who is already calling
me 'daddy' and the children who call me Grandpa
Giorgio." When asked why he choose this
particular family Angelozzi said, "I choose the
woman whose voice sounded like my wife."
—Reuters, Lonely Italian
Pensioner Gets Adopted, September 26,
2004. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim
Sandell.
Romans
8:23 (NIV) "Not only so, but we ourselves,
who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as
sons, the redemption of our bodies."
ADOPTION
In a 60 minutes interview on CBS, Walter
Isaacson, the author of the biography Steve
Jobs, shares this early event in Jobs’ life as
related by Jobs.
“I was, I remember right here on the lawn,
telling Lisa McMoylar from across the street
that I was adopted. And she said, ‘So does that
mean your real parents didn't want you?’ Ooooh,
lightning bolts went off in my head. I remember
running into the house, I think I was like
crying, asking my parents. And they sat me down
and they said, ‘No, you don't understand. We
specifically picked you out. From then on, I
realized that I was not just abandoned. I was
chosen. I was special.’”
Isaacson said, “I think that’s the key to
understanding Steve Jobs.”
--http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-20124391/steve-jobs-revelations-from-a-tech-giant/?pageNum=8&tag=contentMain;contentBody
Illustration
by Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell
Christians can look to our adoption in the same
light. God chose us. We are special. We can live
out our Christian experience knowing that we
were not abandoned, but we were chosen by God
for something special.
Ephesians 1:5 (NASB) He predestined us to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the kind intention of His
will,
ADOPTION
Adopted as a child and with no knowledge of her
biological family Abbey Donohoe met Paula
O’Brien at a party in Davenport Iowa. Despite
their 11-year difference in age people said they
looked like sisters. They became Facebook
friends and when O’Brien made a post about her
brother’s child who was given up for adoption
and listed the child’s birthdate, Donohoe
noticed that it was the same day as her
birthday. She is now joyfully united with her
birth family.
When a lost child of God accepts Jesus Christ as
personal savior, that person is united by
adoption into the family of God. What joy
follows! --Jim L. Wilson and Rodger
Russell.
The Week, March 29, 2013 p. 2
Ephesians 1:5 (ESV) he predestined us for
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according
to the purpose of his will,
ADOPTION
Donnie Davis was Tristan
Jacobson’s guardian. She wanted to adopt the
9-year-old was by his birth mother. She could
not afford the $10,000 in legal fees so Tristan
took matters into his own hands. He began
selling lemonade on the street. His little stand
began to attract hundreds of generous customers
and raised $6,500. An online fundraiser raised
another $9000. Donnie Davis is “kind of in
shock,” she says, but she is now the adopted
mother of a son.
You and I have been adopted
by the Creator of the Universe. And in Jesus
Christ He paid all the fees. When we said yes to
his calling, the transaction was done and we
became sons and daughters of God. --Jim L.
Wilson and Rodger Russell.
The Week, May 6, 2016 p. 5
Ephesians 1:5 (HCSB) “He
predestined us to be adopted through Jesus
Christ for Himself, according to His favor and
will,”
ADOPTION
In
“Adopted for Life,” Russell Moore writes, “As
soon as you peer into the truth of the one
aspect, you fall headlong into the truth of the
other, and vice versa. That’s because it’s the
way the gospel is. Jesus reconciles us to God
and to each other. As we love our God, we love
our neighbor; as we love our neighbor, we love
our God. We believe Jesus in heavenly things –
our adoption in Christ; so we follow him in
earthly things – the adoption of children.
Without the theological aspect, the emphasis on
adoption too easily is seen as mere charity.
Without the missional aspect, the doctrine of
adoption too easily is seen as a mere metaphor.”
Russell
Moore brings to light that adoption is gospel
work. It is about God’s redeeming work through
Jesus so that we might be adopted as sons and
daughters, but it is missional in the sense that
we are expected to care for those who are
helpless, in need, and abandoned. —Jim L. Wilson & Jeff
DeGiacomo
-
Adopted for Life, 13-14
Matthew
22:37–39 (HCSB)“He said to him, ‘Love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and with all your mind.38
This is the greatest and most important command.
39 The second is like it: Love your
neighbor as yourself.’”
ADOPTION
When
Chelsey Haley finished school and began
teaching, she joined the Teach for
America program to make a difference in a
low-income school. She never expected
to encounter a boy named Jerome, who made
her question her motives and future
as a teacher. She went to an elementary
school in Louisiana, where she met
Jerome. He was hard to control and other
teachers would drop him off in Haleys
classroom because she made him finish his
work.
A few
months later, Haley dreamed that God told
her she would be Jerome’s mother. She
eventually met with Jerome’s birthmother who
could not care for Jerome and his
brother and was able to adopt both boys.
Haley moved to Atlanta, and now both
boys are doing well in school and thriving.
Haley loves being both a teacher
and a mother. She said, “I always knew I
wanted to be a mom and I wouldn’t
trade this for anything.”—Jim L. Wilson and
Jim Sandell
