Got an hour to spare? If so, I suggest you sit back and enjoy a wonderful BYU devotional. Mark Peterson, a professor of Korean studies at BYU, spoke on the subject of adoption on March 8, 2005. He relates his own family’s adoption experiences, and likens them to the way we are all adopted into the house of Israel:

“But adoption is not limited to the special cases we call ‘adopted.’ It pertains to all of us. The Apostle Paul made several references to adoption. He spoke of adoption as the process by which we become members of the covenant, part of the family of Abraham. In five instances Paul used the term adoption to indicate the process by which Gentiles and Jews become part of the covenant and members of the family of Abraham. To Paul, the term adoption was used to show that those who believe in Jesus become part of a very special family. This is true for all of us who are baptized into the Church today. We become brothers and sisters.”

The Petersons were childless for 18 years and were ultimately called to preside over the Pusan, Korea mission. While there, they decided to apply to adopt a baby, and a mere five days later, they became parents. Later, the Peterson’s returned to Korea and adopted a second child:

“The adoption of our second child was just as miraculous. The opportunity to go to Korea for a semester came about unexpectedly. It came just when I was coming up for tenure, and when I told my wife we needed to go, not for research or teaching but for an administrative assignment, she said it didn’t make sense. It didn’t. But I told her I had a strong feeling that we should go. Two weeks later, after she had wrestled with the idea, she told me that she finally agreed; we needed to go. Then she said, “There is another baby waiting for us.”

You can read, watch, or listen to the full devotional by visiting BYU Broadcasting.