With the mountain-climb impending, Julie and I thought it would be a good time to have our last will and testament put in place.  Actually, Julie has been wanting it done for years . . . I’ve been the one putting it off.  And yes, I know, we should have had one a decade ago when we started our family!

Sooo, we went to the nice paneled office of our new attorney friend, talked about living wills, where our kids are going to live if we both die in a plane crash, etc.  Nice conversations.

In the process, we had one very moving incident . . .

Our attorney was reading through the final draft of our will.  She stopped to explain a term that was sprinkled throughout the document:  Per stirpes.  She said that per stirpes is a Latin legal term that means “by the branch,” or “by the bloodline.”  And that all of our assets would be distributed to our children per stirpes (by the bloodline).

Julie interrupted, “This may be a stupid question . . . but because Elijah is adopted, does he receive inheritance, per stirpes?  Since he’s not actually our blood?”

The attorney responded, “Yes, when you adopted Elijah, he became your bloodline, with all of the rights and privileges included therein.  He is your son and heir to everything that is yours.”

Julie and I both looked at one another.  When we adopted Elijah, he became our bloodline with all of the rights and privileges included therein.

When we accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we were adopted into God’s family.  We became God’s bloodline with all of the rights and privileges included therein.  Amazing.

Romans 8:15b-17a  You received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”  For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.  And since we are his children, we are his heirs.