Step out in faith
Remember Moses? You know, the guy who floated down the river in a basket when he was a baby? The guy who parted the red sea and gave the ten commandments? Yeah, that guy. Well, he is a neat example of how God shines through his children. You see, Moses made some mistakes. He was far from perfect. He even killed a man, but even though he was flawed, God used him. The story of the burning bush is probably my favorite Moses story.
Moses came to a bush that was burning with fire, but it didn’t burn up, and it wasn’t even hot. God gave Moses a mission: he wanted him to deliver His people out of Egypt. Moses questioned God, and God replied amazingly. Exodus 3:11-12 says:
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
So Moses asked God why he was picked for this mission. Instead of answering Moses with an explanation, God simply said that He would be with him through it all. Not to worry about the flaws, or what could go wrong, and to remember that anything was possible because God was in control. God wanted Moses to have faith that He would use him, and then after it was finished Moses would worship God.
So you’re probably thinking “what does this have to do with your foster care story?” Our story starts about a year before we decided to become foster parents. Daniel and I wanted to be parents, so we asked ourselves what that meant for us. We considered everything: adoption(local and overseas), biological children, and foster care. We initially said no to foster care because it would be too hard and too messy. That was it, or so we thought.
The second time we talked about fostering, we could see how lives were being affected through many friends who chose to foster. We could see the needs, and we talked about becoming foster parents with a serious tone. We wanted to help children and their families, but this time we agreed that we were not a good fit for it. I’m too emotional. What if they left? We wouldn’t have control, and that was scary. We pushed it away and tried not to think about it, but if God wants you to do something, then one way or another it will get done.
We tried to push the feeling away, but we couldn’t deny that our hearts were broken. I read stories in the newspaper of children put in danger, and heard the news talk about the heroin problem in our town spreading like wildfire. Overdoses were happening everywhere. Our community was in pain. I couldn’t ignore it, because I was living in the middle of it. I was tired of shielding my eyes and pretending that I couldn’t see it. I could see the burdens of my neighbors, and it broke my heart. I met with a friend to ask questions. She had been a foster parent for a couple of years and I valued her word. My questions were logical, and questions that Daniel and I needed answered. She was able to answer all my questions, and told me about an informational meeting that we should attend.
When I got home, I asked my husband again, and we agreed to go the the meeting. We listened and we learned so much. When we walked out of that room we just knew without a doubt that we were about to begin the hardest and most wonderful journey of our lives, and we were so terrified.
I remember praying “God why me? Don’t these kids need a superhero? With everything they are going through, how can I possibly be enough?” The thing is, God didn’t want to use a superhero. He didn’t want to use someone perfect. He wanted us to have faith that He knew what was best for us, the children, and their families. For us to step out in faith and praise him for what he would do through us. Trusting God is so hard because who wants to give up control? But when we did wonderful things happened.
This was how we began our foster care journey. If your heart is broken for something I encourage you to stop standing still. Close your eyes and take a step because when you open you’ll see that God will bring you to amazing places.
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