Kristian Nicole Bergen

Kristian Nicole Bergen

Yesterday was an amazing day for the Bergen family.  We adopted Kristian Nicole Bergen into our family.  I could go on and on about all of the wonderful aspects leading up to this but I won't bore you with the details since I have purposely focused my blog on Biblical and doctrinal issues.  I would be remiss, however, if I would not publicly thank 2 people in particular.  

The first thank you goes to Charity, our case worker who put the wheels in motion.  Charity was the case worker for a boy we had fostered and thought of adopting but due to circumstances things did not work out.  Charity was also Kristian's case worker who knew Kristian was a believer and desired to be in a committed Bible-believing home.  Charity approached us and the wheels were set in motion.  There are not many case workers like Charity, at least not in our experience.  This lady truly had the best interests of both parties in mind and... she cared.  This was more than a job for her.  She really understood/understands the importance of a nurturing environment for children.  She may or may not read this, but to us she is truly our hero.  Over the past year or so she has become a great friend and loved one.  If any case workers are reading this, please, please, please learn from this. 

The second thank you goes to Kim, a friend of Kristian.  This lady along with her family selflessly put into Kristian's life by having her over from time to time and most importantly, introduced her to Jesus Christ.  This lady along with her husband and children spent the time and it paid off.  Kim is truly a great commission Christian.  We are forever grateful for her care and love to our daughter way before we even came into the picture.  We see the sovereignty of God working both in our lives and in the life of Kristian over and over again.  God is so good.

The third and greatest thank you goes to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from whom ALL blessings flow.  His grace and mercy are evident in our lives day to day and we cannot thank Him enough for the blessing of adopting Kristian.

This morning I could not sleep and I think that the reality of God's grace and mercy to me is sinking in with this whole adoption event.  There are many thoughts going around in my bald head, but three have stood out.

Beth (Joel's girlfriend), Joel, Liv, Tim, Judy, Dre & Kristian Bergen

1.  God's grace and mercy--I believe that God's grace cannot be divorced from His mercy.  In other words, to understand and savor the grace of God we must understand and delight in His mercy to us.  As a sinner, I deserve eternal damnation but as His elect, God extended His mercy and I got what I didn't deserve.  He declared me righteous.  In declaring me righteous God extended unmerited favor to me and I live in His grace.  So how does this play into our adopting Kristian?  This adoption is a huge blessing that we do not deserve.  Matter of fact, we deserve quite the opposite, we deserve a life of non-blessings as sinners but God in His mercy gave us Kristian.  This mercy is God's unmerited favor to us--His grace.  Are we blessed?  Oh, beyond measure!!!

2.  The Holy Spirit's leading--Being a Bible church guy this is always a hard one to explain.  We almost always try to make the leading of the Holy Spirit an intellectual and academic exercise.  The saying goes:  "If you study and follow Scripture then you will follow the leading of the Holy Spirit."  Of course, I agree with that, but...  I believe there is a supernatural work that takes place with the leading of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life.  Nowhere in Scripture does Kristian's name come up.  Nowhere in Scripture did it tell us that we were to adopt a teenage girl.  Nowhere in Scripture did it tell us that Charity and Kim and a multitude of other people would guide us into a process of adoption.  Scripture does give principles for living and in living out the principles of Scripture the Holy Spirit works in us and through us for His glory!!!  As we strive to live for Christ, we allow the Holy Spirit to work and as the Holy Spirit works in us, He guides us each step of the way.  What a wonderful blessing to have the Holy Spirit.  If we look at Acts 4 we see that Peter responded to the Sanhedrin's inquiry filled with the Holy Spirit in verse 7 and verse 13 shows the amazement of the men at his response.  Peter's eloquence and articulate response has to be attributed to the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit within Him.

Our Family with  Mrs. Martha O'Neal (Beauregard Parish Judge)

3.  God's adoption--I am adopted both physically by my parents and spiritually by God.  His adoption made me an heir of His inheritance.  I am a fellow heir with Christ--Romans 8:17a says:  and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ... Yesterday the judge asked us if we understood that Kristian would partake of the inheritance just like any of our other children.  We, of course, agreed wholeheartedly.  It hit me though, that her past does not matter.  Where she came from does not matter.  What happened with her biological family does not matter.  She now is our child.  From that point forward it was as if all things in the past were erased and gone.  She is a Bergen--NO ANDS, IFS OR BUTS about it.  The same thing is true in God's adoption of believers.  The past is gone.  The old life is gone.  This is a new day.  We are new people (creatures)  We are now children of the King of kings.  2 Corinthians 5:17 became even clearer to me:  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  Isn't that fantastic?

I am so thankful for Kristian Nicole Bergen and I am thankful for the many lessons that I have learned and am learning through this wonderful process called adoption.

Tim Bergen