Accepted and loved

Me and my daughter had been walking down the canal for weeks, watching a mother goose taking care of her eggs. Any day now and the eggs would be ready for hatching. My daughter Katie was so excited. “How many goslings do you think she’ll have mummy?” “I don’t know” I said, “but we will find out soon”. Just a few days later we past again and there they were 4 little baby goslings.

In just a couple of weeks we watched the goslings grow and then one day when we passed not only had the goslings grown but the little family had grown too. There were now 8 goslings and then a few days later there were more! In the end, we counted 17 goslings and only one set of parents. Where had all these goslings come from? It seems they may have been abandoned by their own parents

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Well what I learnt after this was that Geese will adopt other baby goslings? In some cases, other geese will abandon their goslings but then others will let them join their family and take care of them. It doesn't matter to them that an unrelated chick has just wondered into their brood and started to follow their ways; they will accept it and protect it regardless.

If they see a lonely chick just paddling along all alone, they’ll allow it to become part of their family no matter where it has come from. No family, no problem! They have no limit on adoption.

So sometimes this can happen on a lager scale like in the picture above.

I can relate to this because I was once just an unrelated chick feeling lost and alone not knowing where or who to turn to. Then I became a Christian and I heard how God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. (Ephesians 1:5) Suddenly I had lots of brothers and sisters and I was part of a very large family. A family that accepted me for who I was and took care of me when I needed it most. How awesome it is to know that you are a child of God.

I had a hard time growing up with my mum being an addict. Often, she would make bad decisions because of the drugs and at times I felt abandoned. Maybe you’ve been through times like this too?

Well we never need to feel that way because it says in the bible ‘Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.’ (Psalm 27:10)

Just like this mother goose adopted these little baby goslings and took them under her wing. We too are adopted as children of God, He’s taken us under his wing. He is our heavenly Father and will never abandon us.