I learned something about myself this summer.
We do a Bible study with our summer staff girls during the summer at Look Up. This summer the topic was attributes of God. We would spend a few days focusing on and studying one attribute, and then come back together and discuss what we had learned, what stuck out to us.
One of the attributes we looked at was faithfulness.
Yes, in my mind it's a given. God is faithful. But, this summer I realized how often I miss out on seeing how He is faithful. Over time I have learned and been taught that, "God is faithful even if it doesn't work out exactly like you want." I have gotten to the point where I focus so much on that, that I sometimes miss out on seeing ways that God proves His faithfulness.
But I didn't miss this last one.
For those of you who may not know the story of our last foster daughter, I will attempt to catch you up quickly.
Last February a beautiful little girl came to live with us. She had just turned two. We were not expecting the next child we got to be that age, and it all happened very quickly. Our family dynamic drastically changed with her arrival. But, we were open to whatever doors the Lord opened and we began praying day one about what His plan for the situation would be.
She was with us for six months. Over that time, we found ourselves on a roller coaster ride of emotions and expectations. Her situation was unique and so it was unsure from the beginning how long she would be with us. Throughout the time we had her we went back and forth from having her short term, to thinking about adopting her, to not being able to adopt her and then thinking about adoption again.
As time went on we began to realize that it might not be the best fit for ours to be her forever home.
(I won't give all the details of why because I'm trying to keep this brief. I would be glad to share that later with anyone who is interested. )
As we began to come to this conclusion we felt lost. This is not a decision that we expected to make and the situation we found ourselves in was not where we expected to be. We were scared at the thought of where she would end up when she left our home. We cared about her very much and really wanted the best for her. She really is a precious little girl, funny, sweet, and so grown up. We really wanted to help find a family that would be a good fit for her.
We began our search. We believed that God had brought us to this decision and we began praying for just the right family. We believed that He could provide the right place for her. He could work everything out. After all, He loves her more than we could even begin to love her.
The search seemed slow. We didn't really know how to even go about looking.
But, GOD WAS FAITHFUL.
Through a chain of crazy events (what would seem like coincidence to some) we met a wonderful family.
Long story short, they had a puzzle piece missing from their family that this little girl fit perfectly. They were beyond excited to welcome her into their home and family. They were the perfect fit for her forever family.
We had true peace that this was right. Still, we were nervous. How would the transition go? Would she have a hard time? Would Eri have a hard time when she left?
Again, GOD WAS FAITHFUL.
The transition went better than we could have ever dreamed. It was clearly the Lord. I can't even begin to explain all the details that fell into place, and again I don't want to go on and on forever listing them all.
Now, she is doing wonderfully. It's so evident that she is in an environment that fits her well. We are so proud of her and how far she has come.
Eri has done so well with all of it too, again, better than we could have imagined.
The journey that we traveled over the past several months was not what we would have planned or expected. But looking back, we grew so much. We are so thankful that we got to be a part of this little life and that we were able to watch her grow and change...even though it was hard at times. Looking back, her entire time with us was marked with God's faithfulness. Each day there were struggles that He proved Himself in. Only He could work out something so wonderful in a broken world, dealing with broken people.
We are so thankful for how this precious little girl is doing now and for her new family. We are excited to see how we can be involved in her life in the future.
We are so thankful for the peace that God has given us to know that this is right. We are so thankful for how He has proven Himself faithful in this story.
Going into foster care was scary. Having a medically fragile child was scary. Making wise decisions about the children in our care has been scary. But God has continued to lead us each step. He has given us what we have needed to handle each situation.
We believe that He will continue to lead us. Whatever the next step is for us, He will be there.
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