A Call

Hi, friends.  So, I mentioned at the end of my last post that I had something to tell you today.  And I do.  But I have to say I'm a little scared to say it to such a large group of people (I say this as if a ton of people read my blog- ha!), because that seems like it makes it officially official.  And I know it is already officially official, because God has called us to do this and we intend to obey.  But, it's still scary.  So, here goes.  We are going to do foster care!

So, for a long time we have known that we would like to adopt at some point.  We just figured it would be later.  Ya know, we would do the "have our own kids" thing and then do the "adopt" thing.  But, God has really been working on our hearts for awhile now and He has shown us that He wants us to do foster care sooner rather than later.  There really is no reason not to do it now.  Caleb and I have both grown up in families who have done foster care, so our parents have set wonderful examples for us.  So I guess this ministry to the orphans is near and dear to our hearts.

Becoming a mother has, even more, made me concerned for the little children.  When Emerson was so tiny and helpless and dependent, sometimes I would think about the babies who were born to mothers who didn't meet their needs.  Weren't fed.  Weren't held or kept warm.  Babies whose cries weren't answered.  It would bring me to tears to think about a tiny baby like Emerson not having someone love him and hold him.  Or even worse, some mothers who would hurt their children.  I know it must hurt God's heart to see little innocent children hurting.  It's just a fallen, sad world.  This was not how God created it. 

Over a year ago, someone came to our church on orphan Sunday or adoption Sunday or whatever it's called.  And they were talking about what a need there is in NWA for foster parents.  A huge need.  And I feel like it is the church's job.  I looked in the phone book to find pages and pages of churches in the NWA area.  And it angered me.  How could there be such a great need when there are so many churches in this area?  Since then, God has been working on us.  As of this month, there are 136 children in foster care in this county and 37% are placed outside the county because there aren't enough foster families. 

I believe children have a special place in God's heart.  And Scripture is clear that He loves and cares for orphaned children.  He is the Father to the fatherless.  Religion that is pure and faultless is looking after the orphans.  I need to keep the Matthew 25 mindset, that whatever I am doing for "the least of these" I am doing for Christ.

Now, while this post is mostly mushy gushy stuff, I know it is going to be hard.  I know that these kids will come with baggage and maybe even hard hearts, but we have to be obedient.  The enemy already tries to feed me lies and fears about me not being able to handle it, especially after I have a rough day with only one child.  But somebody needs to care for these children and they need to hear the gospel so badly.  This ministry will definitely teach me to rely on the Lord, because I won't be able to do it in my own strength, that's for sure.

Even though this post is so long, I could continue to go on and on, because I have had a hundred thoughts going through my mind about this.  Though a million things could go wrong and this could be hard in a million ways, we are trusting the Lord's lead.  Right now, we are starting out by going to an informational meeting this month and then we will begin the training (30 hrs required).  He will prepare us as needed.

A few prayers would be appreciated if you think about it.

1.  Pray for childcare provisions for Emerson while we do the training.
2.  Pray that when we are doing foster care, Caleb won't have to work as much (they are supposed to be hiring another engineer in May, which should help lighten the load).
3.  Pray that we will be obedient and that we won't believe the lies of the enemy.

I think this should do it for now.  It is a relief to me now that I can share my thoughts and latest news to you all as everything progresses.  I'm impressed if you made it down this far!  If you are interested in doing foster care or adoption, there is a neat Christian organization called The Call that you should check out.  We will be going through this organization to get certified.