Over the Thanksgiving holiday I watched one of my all time favorite Christmas movies, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". One of the many reasons I love this holiday classic is because of it's endearing storyline. For those who need a bit of a recap of what I'm talking about let me fill you in.
The Grinch, a bitter, grouchy, cave-dwelling creature with a heart "two sizes too small", lives on snowy Mount Crumpit, just north of Whoville, home of the merry and warm-hearted Whos. His only companion is his faithful dog, Max. From his perch high atop Mount Crumpit, the Grinch can hear the noisy Christmas festivities that take place in Whoville. Annoyed and unable to understand the Whos' happiness, he makes plans to descend on the town and deprive them of their Christmas presents, Roast Beast, Who-hash and decorations and thus "prevent Christmas from coming." However, he learns in the end that despite his success in taking away all the Christmas presents and decorations from the Whos, Christmas comes just the same. He then realizes that Christmas is more than just gifts and presents. Touched by this, his heart grows three sizes larger; he returns all the presents and trimmings and is warmly welcomed into the community of the Whos.
You see, the Grich had a predisposed idea of what he thought Christmas was all about until he had a "wake up call" and then saw it through the lens of what it really was all about. Just like me, I had a predisposed idea of what I thought adoption was all about until I had my own "wake up call", or as I like to say "when my heart grew three sizes in one day". In my case I did not need to hijack a holiday or steal someones roast beast to be put straight. I needed God, or "The Holy Spirit", to reveal to me His heart for adoption through the lens of the Gospel - and one day He did just that!
In a previous post found here my husband Steve mentioned that I heard an adoption story from one of our church's staff members while I was interning there that opened my eyes to adoption. That's true, and now it's a part of my story that I would like to also share with you. I hope this video from Michael and Kimberley Stewart will bless you and grow your heart as it did mine.
If you'd like to follow the Stewart's story further you can follow there blog here.
-Gretchen
