If you know Blake and I, you know we haven't done foster care.
So when I posted yesterday it was out of a wrestling that God has been doing with me lately.
Ashley commented yesterday and I jumped to her blog to catch up with their journey and had to share this tidbit from her post...it's so moving!
"Tom and I knew God was calling us to be foster parents awhile ago, but then we started letting our human ways take over. Saying things like, "oh maybe it would be 'easier' if we adopted through an agency from infants, or these kids might have special needs, or have 'issues'." Then one day it hit me and I felt so bad, I went running back to God and asked for His forgiveness. First of all, knowingly diverting from what we know God wants us to do, because it might be "easier" is selfish and wrong! Also who am I to say its "easier" it may appear so from the outside, but i've never experienced that either, so what do I know. And lastly, I felt so ashamed that for a split second I thought twice because foster kids have special needs, HELLO, we all have special needs of some sort, and besides God gave His ONLY son, for me, who is flawed and has needs and issues, who am I to judge a CHILD on things he had no part in?! "
Thank you Ashley for sharing your human thoughts with the rest of us that fear the exact same thing.
God has also laid a song on my heart that brings me to tears everytime I hear it. It's Michael W. Smith's song, "Mighty to Save".
Read the words and as you do think of how this applies to God's heart for children without families.
"Everyone needs compassion
A love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations
Chorus:
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
Forever, Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
So take me as you find me
All of my fears and failures
And fill my life again
I give my life to follow"
A love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations
Chorus:
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
Forever, Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
So take me as you find me
All of my fears and failures
And fill my life again
I give my life to follow"
If as Christians, we don't open our homes and hearts, who do we expect to do so?
3 comments:
Hi!
I just wandered over to your blog through a series of blog hopping, it's so great to read about someone with the same heart as my husband and I. I have had a longing to adopt since I can remember and can't wait to fill our home with kids that God has entrusted to us to care for.
You have such a beautiful family!!!
Erin
i love this post. can i just say, the song ... we sang it at church the Sunday we decided to proceed forward with Paxton. God did so much in our hearts that day in church, and that song was just the beginning. "all my fears and failures" ... goodness! it's now the song that i sing to him. there is always fear in these types of decisions. their huge decisions! but oftentimes God just quietly requests our obedience. and i have thought alot about this. we could have said "we're not ready right now." and some other sweet family would have our blessing today. i know that God would get the job done without me and my willingness. he would have found our little Pax a wonderful family. BUT, we would be missing the blessing. and i know i've missed blessings from him before, from disobedience. it's easy to ignore God sometimes, you know. but it's always our loss, not His. wow - that was long. but thanks for sharing Ashley's post.
The thing about foster parenting is that nothing about it is easier than not doing it.
For every reason to do it there is an equally or stronger (selfish) reason to not do it.
Every time we heard one of those lies, we had to pray through it. Of course Satan doesn't want us to bring children into our loving home when he can get them easier where they're at.
Glad to find your blog (through A day in the life)... my husband and I are currently pursuing an AA DA. We have a bio son (through IVF) and had a 3 year old foster son for 4.5 months who we would have kept forever if we could have.
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