Graham, Daddy, and Mommy via video chat photo

adjective: having been selected as the best or most appropriate


After six years of waiting, they received the news: a little boy of their very own. They only had to say yes and travel across the globe to get him. They had prayed for a baby for years, and now they saw the face of the one they had prayed for. All those years, heart strains and pleas that God would keep their little one safe, let him know in some way they were coming to get him, that God would hold their sweet baby in his arms until they could, were answered in a wisp of a moment.

Never an orphan, even when his birth mother left him by the gate of the orphanage in China.  God knew he had parents. It would just be a little while before they wrapped their arms around their little one. The one perfectly chosen for them by God.

This weekend he will fly home with his bursting-with-joy parents and begin meeting all of his family.  Others who have loved him even before they knew his name or saw his chubby little face and enormous brown eyes. Oh, other nieces and nephews, granddaughters and grandsons have joined the family before him. But honestly, he’s special. The others were always wanted, always cherished, and always cared for. Oh, he was always loved by God, but there were times in his short life where he experienced being unloved and unwanted.

What a privilege it is to welcome into a family a “chosen” one. Chosen by God, chosen by his parents. Wholeheartedly accepted as the newest member of the family – just like he’d been with us since the day he was born. It is a moment — a chance — to better understand God’s love for us and the extent He will go to make sure we are a part of family – His family.

Kevin, Tracy, and Graham in the location where Graham was found.

God saw this little one, held him close to his heart, then searched the world for his forever family. Then He chose Kevin and Tracy. They were selected as the BEST for Graham and Graham the best for them. What a lucky little fellow he is! What a lucky Dad and Mom they are!

And what lucky orphans we are — that God has called us His own, His “chosen.”