8.03.2016

It is well

But blessed are those who trust in the lord and have made the lord their hope and confidence. Jer.17.7



For 7 months we have lived as a family of 6.  We have worked and loved and weaved our lives together.  That face behind the heart has become one of ours and we are his family.  We have taken on the burden of his story and made it part of our own.  This week court has ordered that we begin a time of transitioning him to a family members home.  We are so happy for him to have someone who has stepped up and can give him a good place, a future and a loving family.  The reality of saying goodbye is quickly approaching.  For the last 7 months I have known he was safe because he was in our home.  I knew he was getting what was best for him.  I felt in control.  The reality of it is that we are not in control of any of our children's lives.  I must let go.  I have no choice with this one, I have to let him go and I have to trust that God loves him even more than I do.  Do I really trust God to hold his life dear.  When we are faced with that reality it is hard to always say yes God, I trust you.  So for now we take it one day at a time.  Today I will say yes to trusting my God with his life and with all of my children's lives.  Hold them close Jesus.  
God calls us to sacrifice.  In fostering we are called to love deeply, knowing we may loose those which we have come to love.  They are worth it.  This boy has known love while in our home.  Every child will know love that comes into these doors.  Christ loved, so we are called to love.  
Today I let go and will trust in Him and I will sing It is well.  It is well.  It is well.  

5.08.2016

We are not foster parents.

We are not foster parents.  Strange.  We have said that we are before, but we know the truth, we could not do it without our star players on the team.  Meet my A team, 1st string, all stars:







These kids know what it looks like to love.  They have let their lives be altered in a moment, they have served, they have given their hearts, they have welcomed children in like they were one of our own.  These three have done it well.  They know hurt, they know frustration, they know a bit more of reality than most.  This is our team.  To think that it is a calling just on us, the parents is not accurate.  We are not foster parents, we are a foster family.

4.05.2016

How He loves us.

Oh how He loves us Oh.
Oh how He loves us.
How He loves us all.


We sang this song in church on Sunday and its words hit me like never before.  Everytime I sing this song I am so amazed by Gods love for me.  I want to sing this in grateful praise that God would love me.  I am a follower of Christ, I strive to live like Him daily, but I will always fall short.

As we were singing my mind went to our little foster boy and again, I was hit with the gratefulness that He loves this little boy so much and that He has a plan for his life.  This boy who has done nothing to deserve the life he has been handed, and that God would pick him up and love him.  He is His creation.  We do not know if this little guy will stay in our home for much longer, but I know without a doubt that His Heavenly Father loves Him and will care for him no matter where he ends up spending his earthly days.

Then the Lord brought me to my knees.  I love her too.  I heard the words so clearly while the song played.  The woman who put her son in the position to be placed in our home.  The one who made the wrong choices and cant seem to make the right ones.  The one who is lost and doesn't seem to want to be found.  I love her.

I cannot even fathom that love.  A love that can cover the span of all those people and love them the same.  She is His creation.  That little boy is His creation.  I am His creation.  I truly pray that I can look at others and see Christ's love for them, to see them as dearly loved.  The only thing that sets me apart is Christ - nothing about me - just Him.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption be the grace in His eyes.

1.25.2016

What they deserve.

Lets be honest here - sometimes I can be selfish.  Full honest - Often, I can be selfish.  
I don't think I deserve the type of day I am handed.  Why must there be more dishes, another load of laundry, another mess, for goodness sake keep the pillows on the couch... all thoughts that rush through my head daily.  It is usually moments after I have those thoughts that God gently brings me back to examine, what do I really deserve.  None of this.  I deserve none of it.  I am gifted the ability to live a healthy life, to worship the creator of it all, to mentor and train the children that God has loaned me, to walk with Him on this journey that will only last a short time in history.  I did not earn that, I was gifted that.  

So what do they deserve?  


To be loved.  To be safe.  Those two things alone would break your heart if you think about the number of children who do not have them.  To have someone to call their own.  
To be known.
To know Him.

Days when I want to throw in the towel, to say I deserve a more peaceful calm day, I see these precious moments and I am quickly put in my place.  To trade a clean home for a child who has a place to lay their head.  To sing praise songs and teach them of the God who knows their every thoughts and every needs.  A hug, a mother figure, laughter.  They deserve more.  

May we be encouraged to continue on in the walk that God has put us on.  May we live hard to serve Him, may we not stop short of His calling on our lives, whatever it may be.  He has the power to work wonderful things in and through us - I love that I will not fully grasp that until the day I see Him face to face. Until then I do not want to live blinded by my selfish desires, may God strip those away and let me see the beautiful lives that He has put in my hands to care for.  
What a blessing!

‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’  Matt 25.40