"I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
~Jesus (John 10:10b)

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

God is the Rescuer of Orphans

Foster care has been a valuable tool to teach me eternal truths.

As we walk intimately through J-man's life, share our children with him, our home, our hearts- we have the privilege and responsibility of being his biggest voice in the foster care system. I wanted to share a few verses and quotes that have been tools with sustaining power through the hardships of loving a little one from a hard place:

This one was my fuel in the beginning of my foster care journey:

"Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." ~Proverbs 31:8-9


It gave me the strength to begin the journey of being his voice.

But that wasn't enough. I feel often like my voice falls on deaf ears. We have had 5 case workers in a years time. Each case worker carries quite the load on their shoulders- juggling several case loads at one time.

And our little boy is not a just a number. Often, when a concern is raised, it is met with, "I understand your concern and I agree with it." Nothing more. This used to STRESS me out tremendously. I really didn't know how to hold up under it. If I have no control and continue to be his voice, with little or no listening involved, where does that leave me?

STUCK IN REALITY. This is where rubber meets the road. What control do we actually have? Foster care has been a beautiful, sanctifying journey.

I will share with you the verse that now is my foundation:

"O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear, To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror." ~Psalm 10:17-18

In all my anxiety, I was trying to change a reality that does not exist. I am not in control. My sovereign God is. His ear is turned towards me, towards you who are in Christ. HE vindicates the orphan and the oppressed- my sweet, crazy, intelligent little dude. I am not capable. I am the voice- He is GOD.

He is my Rescuer. He alone is J-man's rescuer. He is sovereign over a broken system.

I needed this reminder today.



Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Living Life "In Between"

Foster care has definitely been a journey that I said for years I would never take. The main reason I always looked the other way with foster care was really for one reason- I just did not think my heart could take it. I just didn't think I could love like that to only give little ones away.

To be honest, things haven't changed. What is asked of you within foster care is humanly impossible.

But, with God ALL THINGS are POSSIBLE.

 We are to LOVE hard with an open hand as foster parents. April 21st was our "metcha" day with our little J-man. He has been with us for over a year, and for all purposes of the word, he is my son. I share him with his biological family, but he is my son, and he will always be my son, no matter what his future holds.


I wanted to share a song that has inspired and encouraged me through this journey. I first heard it at an adoption conference, "Created for Care". If you have never been, you should go. It is balm to the heart of a foster mom/adoptive mom. Here is the link for the conference: http://createdforcare.org

The song "I Am" by David Crowder, has become our "go to" song.

We dance on the kitchen floor to it. My kids know most all of the words and argue over whose song it is. It started as a song I prayed over for our J-man, and then it became a song I leaned into the hardness of entering into the suffering of our little dude. And now, I pray it is our whole family's song. I hope it encourages you.

The LORD sustains His people who seek to follow Him in caring for the orphan and vulnerable.

He is holding onto me.

He will hold onto you as you step out to care for the vulnerable in your community.


Thursday, April 16, 2015

465 days of silence

It has really been that long? 465 days? In many ways, I cannot believe it. But I will give you three, precious, beautiful reasons why there has been so much silence:













My hands are so full, but my heart really is fuller. We welcomed Eden Geneva Lawson into this world on June 29, 2014. We met our little J-man on April 21, 2014. Our adoption journey has taken a slight detour for foster care for right now. It has been an exhilarating, fulfilling, exhausting, and demanding time in our lives. But we wouldn't trade it for the world. I hope to share some of our journey in the next few blog posts. The silence has ended!