Posted on 04/14/2025 7:52:03 PM PDT by DoodleBob
And to add, as soon as he was weaned, Hannah gave Samuel up for the priesthood and he was raised in the temple by Rabbi from then on.
Just because people make do does not mean there isn’t an ideal way to do something. We live on a broken planet where we don’t get to do the ideal way to do something all the time, but that doesn’t mean an ideal way doesn’t exist.
I agree that, if you are able to adopt and foster that would be good. It’s a good way to witness to children.
This is the ideal for a woman:
10 How hard it is to find a capable wife! She is worth far more than jewels!
11 Her husband puts his confidence in her, and he will never be poor.
12 As long as she lives, she does him good and never harm.
13 She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth.
14 She brings home food from out-of-the-way places, as merchant ships do.
15 She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do.
16 She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard.
17 She is a hard worker, strong and industrious.
18 She knows the value of everything she makes, and works late into the night.
19 She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth.
20 She is generous to the poor and needy.
21 She doesn’t worry when it snows, because her family has warm clothing.
22 She makes bedspreads and wears clothes of fine purple linen.
23 Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens.
24 She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants.
25 She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future.
26 She speaks with a gentle wisdom.
27 She is always busy and looks after her family’s needs.
28 Her children show their appreciation, and her husband praises her.
29 He says, “Many women are good wives, but you are the best of them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised.
31 Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.
Proverbs 31
Also worth mentioning that even with biological children, we don’t know what unique burdens may arise. They may end up being on the autism spectrum for example. Or born with other special needs.
And as far as adoption or fostering being an act of witness: raising up biological children in the LORD can also prove challenging. Yet, at heart, whether biological or not — children are on loan to us from God. We don’t own them.
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