I believe wholeheartedly there are stories that we tell ourselves. You know those stories that we convince ourselves are true even if they’re not. The ones that play like a recorder in our heads telling us who we are, who we should be, or who we are not. They’re loud and oppressive and will shape who we are if we listen to them long enough. One of the greatest freedoms we experience is when we realize that those stories don’t have to be true. With God’s help, we can shape our own stories. “For no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has fathomed, the things that God has in store for those who love him.”
I have watched so many people that I love pursue the calling and passion of being a foster parent. Adopting, I could see in our future. I knew that it could be a possibility for us and our family from the very beginning. But being a foster parent? I could never be a foster mom. The hurt. The loss. Watching a child be reunited with her parents when I KNEW they shouldn’t be. Or watching a parent suffer from not being able to be with their child. All of it just seems like too much. God may lead others into this masterful and wonderful work, but not me.
Last summer my family was invited to share our story of adoption in our District “Sanctity of Life” event. We were honored. Chad and I spent time practicing the things that we wanted to say in just a few short minutes. It was powerful picking up Melissa Ohden, a botched abortion survivor, from the airport and driving up to St Marys, Ohio. Her story is powerful. But that night, it wasn’t her story that changed me.
Couple after couple stood up and shared their stories of caring for children who needed them. I started weeping and couldn’t stop. For hours. Speaking to anyone the rest of the night became impossible and I cried most of the way home. In the car I looked at Chad said, “I think we’re supposed to foster.” He looked at me and smiled. I can’t remember his exact words, but he pretty much said “it’s about time”. While I was telling myself stories about who God was calling me to be, Chad was open to whatever the Lord had.
It took us several months to get started, but in December we began foster care training and finished our classes in March of this year. Two weeks ago today we became officially licensed foster parents. It is crazy and feels unreal. We’ve received two calls already, but neither of those situations worked out for the children to join us. But a time will come when we get a call for a situation that does work out, for children who need us, and then, we will say yes again.
Please keep us in your prayers. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, or next month or next year. We just want to live lives of obedience, taking risks and allowing God to reshape the stories of Our Lives.
