Give life to your story...

3.20.15

There are specific times along the course of life that there are very clear and defining moments. I believe that tonight was one of those moments for my life. It was not the thunderous, booming voice of God, but it was certainly a gentle whisper. It is always my desire to be a faithful servant to my Savior. Tonight seemed as if it was the finishing touch on a beautiful painting that the artist was painting upside down. Up until this moment, I had only an insight - or a small speculation - of what that painting would portray. It was tonight (if you can visualize it) that the painting was turned around and was illuminated in great clarity. Although I'm absolutely positive that my creator has many more details to add to this masterpiece, the picture itself is a beautiful depiction of life.

I have always known that the hand of God has been gently, but very certainly, leading my life. Since long before I was born, the presence of God has been undoubtedly apparent when looking back on every single phase of this journey. For all intensive purposes, just with the simple fact that my biological mother was 16 years old, I should have become a statistic. I should have lived a life of poverty. I should have ended up with long term consequences from major childhood stressors. I should have had an unstable home environment. I should NOT have gone to college. I could have become a teen mother myself - completely dependent on society for the livelihood of me and my family. And, add to the equation that my immediate biological family struggled with severe addiction, it only solidifies the inevitable - that my life should have followed a painful path. 

But because the goodness of God extends far beyond the greatest depths of my imagination, my glorious Redeemer God rescued me. He worked in the heart of this amazing, yet terrified, 16 year old girl who was pregnant and alone. With the selflessness that God himself demonstrated, she decided that the best life possible for this growing baby was not with her. In an act that I will never be able to comprehend or fathom, she gave life. Not only to me - this tiny baby - but to a family that was desperately searching and longing for a child to love. Because of this, my life that should have been ridden with struggle and pain, was replaced with a life full of amazing opportunity. I grew up in a home where there was certainly no lack of love. Where finances were stable. Where education was valued. Where I was encouraged to chase my passions and dream big. My Jesus saved ME.

Jesus created me for such a time as this. Jesus rescued me so I can dream big and teach others to do the same. So I can love unconditionally and spread the Gospel wherever I go. So I can love and encourage my husband, so I can fiercely love my children and pour my life into them, and so I can take in other children, love them, and trust that the grace of God will invade their lives. When my story, my passions, my gifts, and even my education collide with a calling that has been placed on my life, it all makes sense. It is a giant puzzle that is starting to come together. Amazingly and intricately crafted into what I am positive will one day be a brilliant and breathtaking piece of art. I am humbled and honored and will do my best to live a life worthy of this calling that I have received.

Jesus, thank you for life. Thank you that you knitted me together in my mothers womb and called me YOURS. Thank you that you set the course of my life before breath entered my lungs. Thank you that I am adopted as your child. Lord, as we set out on this journey to become foster parents, I pray for your overwhelming grace and protection over our family. I am excited and terrified at the same time. I anticipate a rewarding yet very painful journey ahead. It's almost inevitable that we will be confronted with the brokenness of humanity on a daily basis. Lord, please grow our hearts with every part of this journey. I specifically pray for protection over my children - that you would use every single experience to shape them into the people that you have created them to be. Lord, use us. Your ways are higher, your plans are greater, and your goodness is far beyond my comprehension. May you be glorified through our lives. 

Amen.