Kaleigh DeFreitas

Devotional

Day 1: When Thanksgiving Birthdays Rewrite Broken Timelines

A child born on Thanksgiving Day became a hidden answer to grief. This theme explores how God’s timing often unfolds in unseen stories, weaving hope into the gaps of our shattered expectations. It invites reflection on the quiet ways God redeems loss, not by erasing pain but by planting new life in its soil. The story of a baby’s birthdate echoing a season of mourning becomes a metaphor for divine faithfulness that works beyond human calendars. [28:30]

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
(Ecclesiastes 3:11, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you clung to a timeline God seems to disregard? How might His “beautiful timing” be rewriting a story you thought was finished?

Day 2: Releasing the Script When God Erases Your Ending

A failed adoption meeting revealed the cost of clinging to personal narratives. This theme confronts the tension between surrender and control, where grief becomes a doorway to deeper trust. It challenges the illusion that we author our stories, inviting humility to release outcomes we’ve scripted in our heads. The empty Zoom call becomes a symbol of God’s kind disruption. [23:48]

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”
(Proverbs 19:21, ESV)

Reflection: What hidden script have you written for your life that God might be gently erasing? How can releasing it create space for His better story?

Day 3: The Church as Hands Carrying Fragile Hope

Frozen meals and midnight texts became sacraments of community love. This theme celebrates how God sustains us through His people, turning ordinary acts into holy lifelines. It reframes “help” as mutual dependence, where receiving becomes an act of worship. The image of stocked freezers mirrors the Body of Christ nourishing weary saints. [31:30]

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:11, ESV)

Reflection: When has someone’s practical care for you felt like divine intervention? How might God be calling you to be His “hands” for someone’s fragile season?

Day 4: Chosen Love That Mirrors the Father’s Heart

An instantaneous bond with a NICU baby revealed adoption’s sacred echo. This theme explores how choosing a child mirrors God’s deliberate love for us—a love unbound by biology or merit. The moment a stranger’s infant became “mine” reflects the scandalous grace of being claimed by Christ. [39:47]

“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”
(Ephesians 1:4–5, ESV)

Reflection: How does the image of “chosenness” challenge your view of God’s love? Where might you struggle to believe you’re fully claimed as His child?

Day 5: Holding the Tension of Hard and Holy

A NICU isolette became an altar of worship. This theme embraces the paradox that sacred ground often looks like suffering. It rejects easy answers, instead finding God’s presence in the ache of waiting. The humming medical equipment becomes a choir singing of resurrection hope. [28:54]

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.”
(2 Corinthians 4:17–18, ESV)

Reflection: What “hard holy” are you walking through where God’s glory feels hidden? How might this tension be preparing you for deeper communion with Him?

Sermon Summary

Adoption sets the frame as a calling to love the child, the child’s story, and the child’s people. The adoption triad refuses to shrink the picture to one household. It keeps the adoptive parents, the child, and the biological family together in view, and it treats openness as love that refuses to erase anyone God has already named and known. Open adoption rises here not as trend but as mercy, widening the circle so the child can live with truth, belonging, and blessing.

The Lord names the pace by teaching expectancy. “Be expectant” becomes the word that carries a heart through a year when everything flips, forcing the surrender that says, only God holds the story. The Word and prayer become daily bread, and expectancy ripens into obedience. The call to adopt is not a fallback when biology fails. The call reaches for the gospel picture itself. Chosen love says to a child, you are wanted in this family, the way God chose his people in Christ. A “tummy mommy” is honored, yet chosen love binds a forever bond that mirrors the Father’s welcome.

The journey refuses shortcuts. Costs and grants, trainings and homestudies, photo books and info summaries, agencies changing midstream, and the “no’s” that land like small funerals turn hope into a practice that keeps showing up. A match that felt perfect rises, then breaks, and grief requires counsel, tears, and the honesty to stack stones, remembering where God met the story before. Surrender deepens from idea to lived posture.

Providence threads through specifics. A December info summary for a baby boy unlocks certainty, and a Godwink lands in the birthday stamped on Thanksgiving. The NICU greets chosen love with tubes and alarms, a roller coaster where the Great Physician oversees every setback and gain. Hard makes way for harder, yet each season prepares for the next. Single-mom days arrive, and the Lord answers with his church. Ocean View becomes family in real time. Freezers fill. Finances stretch. Midnight texts carry hearts. The hands and feet of Jesus hold a household together.

Bonding without biology does not limp. It leaps. The first moment of recognition makes permanency a promise: no matter what, you are ours. That vow becomes catechesis for the heart, teaching the shape of God’s adoption. Open adoption remains the desired path as a way to honor every part of the story, even as contact ebbs and flows. The call to care for orphans and widows invites anyone to step in. Attend an info meeting, give a meal, donate the right shoes, stand with biological families, and be the village. Go in with eyes wide open. It is hard, and it is worth every tear.

Key Takeaways

1. Chosen love mirrors God’s adoption Chosen love says to a child what the gospel says to sinners: you are wanted, named, and kept. Adoption becomes catechesis, teaching that belonging is not earned but received. Honoring a “tummy mommy” while vowing forever to a son images both truth and grace. The heart learns how the Father’s choosing holds fast. [39:18]
2. Surrender releases control to God Expectancy without control becomes obedience in real time. The journey shatters timetables, preferences, and imagined endings, and surrender becomes the only honest posture. Stacking stones of remembrance steadies the soul when the story veers. God writes timing and outcome better than any plan held tight. [25:59]
3. Open adoption honors every story Open adoption treats the child’s biological roots as a gift to be stewarded, not a threat to be erased. The triad keeps relationships on the table so identity can be told in the light. Even when contact pauses, openness remains an honoring stance. Love broadens, and the circle makes room for truth. [42:47]
4. Hard seasons prepare deeper faith When one hill feels too steep, another can come right behind it, and grace meets both. The roller coaster of matching, the NICU alarms, and single-mom nights all forge a trust that is not theoretical. The Great Physician presides over setbacks and surges alike. Preparation often looks like endurance clothed in hope. [29:23]
5. Church becomes family on the ground Community does more than cheer; it carries weight. Meals appear, bills get covered, and midnight texts become lifelines. A whole congregation can “adopt” a family, embodying the hands and feet of Jesus. The house of God proves that no one parents alone. [30:50]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:34] - Born at 28 weeks
[03:38] - Paths to adoption
[05:38] - Adoption triad and openness
[07:16] - Expectant and surrendered in 2020
[10:26] - Chosen love mirrors the gospel
[12:42] - Costs, grants, and agency steps
[16:05] - Agency change and matching
[17:27] - Waiting through no’s and grief
[21:44] - A yes becomes a no
[26:50] - Milo’s story and Thanksgiving Godwink
[28:30] - NICU roller coaster and single-mom stretch
[30:50] - Church as family
[45:48] - How to support and start
[49:33] - Grateful for Milo

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
- Ephesians 1:4-5 (ESV): "Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will."
- Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV): "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
- James 1:27 (ESV): "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

Observation Questions

The sermon describes the "adoption triad" (adoptive parents, child, biological family) as a way to honor every part of the child’s story. How does this reflect the biblical idea of stewardship over relationships and identity? [05:38]
What examples were given in the sermon to illustrate how "chosen love" mirrors God’s adoption of us? [10:26]
How did the church community practically support the adoptive family during their journey, and what biblical principle does this embody? [30:50]
The sermon mentions "stacking stones of remembrance" during grief. What Old Testament practice does this reference, and how was it applied in the story? [20:40]

Interpretation Questions

Why might the concept of "open adoption" align with a theological understanding of honoring God’s sovereignty over a child’s story and biological roots? [42:47]
How does the idea of surrender in the adoption process (e.g., agency changes, unexpected setbacks) challenge our tendency to rely on personal plans rather than God’s timing? [25:59]
The sermon states, "Hard seasons prepare deeper faith." How do trials like the NICU experience or single parenting refine trust in God’s provision? [29:23]
In what ways does the church’s role as "family on the ground" reflect the body of Christ’s mission to care for vulnerable members of society? [30:50]

Application Questions

Reflect on a time when you faced a situation where you had to surrender control. How did God meet you in that season, and what "stones of remembrance" could you identify? [20:40]
What practical step could you take this week to support a foster/adoptive family or biological family in crisis (e.g., meals, donations, encouragement)? How does this align with James 1:27? [45:48]
The sermon emphasizes honoring a child’s biological roots as part of their God-given story. How might this principle apply to other areas of life where people’s histories or identities are easily overlooked or erased? [42:47]
Chosen love involves intentional, costly commitment. Is there a relationship or situation in your life where you need to choose love even when it feels inconvenient or uncertain? [39:18]
The church’s support included meals, finances, and midnight texts. How can you intentionally cultivate a community that embodies the "hands and feet of Jesus" for those walking hard seasons? [30:50]
The adoption journey required endurance through repeated "no’s" and grief. Where in your life do you need to persevere in hope, trusting God’s timing over your own? [17:27]
Open adoption requires humility and grace when relationships ebb and flow. How can you practice openness and honor in a strained or complex relationship in your life? [42:47]

Sermon Clips

And so every step of the journey was just preparing me for the next step, and I had no idea. But hindsight is when I felt like the adoption journey was too hard, something harder was coming. When I felt like the NICU journey was too hard, something harder was coming. But through all of the hard, God was there the whole time saying, I don't know how many times I have to keep reminding you, but I'm in control, and you're not. And I was like, okay, God. I got you. I got I got it. Let's be done with this now. I got it. [00:29:13] (74 seconds)

I was like, that's my baby. Oh. And I don't even know how I knew that. Yeah. But I just knew this is my baby. And meeting him, that love of, like, hey. No matter what, buddy, you are ours forever. You are chosen forever to the end of time. Nothing he can do could ever change my mind. And that's where I think, for the love of Christ, God knows us so well. We are his, and he chose to have a relationship with us. He chose to bring us into his family. Jesus didn't have to die on a cross for us. He chose that. Right. And [00:39:11] (36 seconds)

I just know that in those moments where you feel like, hey. I don't know if I can do this, but if you believe that God has placed that on your heart, he will make he will make a way. Yeah. Don't push down those feelings and that calling. There are so many kids that need us in the country and in the world. So if you feel that in your heart, I would just encourage you to at least explore it. Yeah. That's great. [00:34:18] (40 seconds)

I will say forever that I chose Milo to be in our family. And not even that I chose it, but I think God chose it. Yeah. That he chose it for us to say, hey. This is your child. And I just think that that was a powerful, you know, thing that I learned of, like, wow. I love this child so much, and he didn't come for me. And I love his mom Yeah. And his dad. You know? I love his parents that are truly his biological parents. [00:39:47] (31 seconds)

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

What distinguishes private domestic infant adoption?

How does open adoption affect family relationships?

How should churches support adoptive and foster families?

Kaleigh DeFreitas - Adoption