One More Home

This weekend I was treated to a wonderful conference hosted by Orphan Care Alliance  called Help Hope Heal. (Try saying that three times fast, somehow I always end up talking about Ron Popeil) This is the second year I've attended, and this year had me sitting in front of different speakers than I listened to last year, discussing different topics all with one focus - to help those who have decided to love the orphans of the world. The audience is a mish-mash of foster parents, social workers, church ministry people, and adoptive parents. We love our kids. We want what is best for our kids. We want to see our children thrive and succeed in life. But, we also realize one important thing - it ain't easy. Adoption, fostering, orphan care work always includes some form of grief and is often mixed with neglect, abuse, and abandonment. To have a child experience these types of pain at such an early point in their life means that there are going to be hard moments, challenging m...

 " Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.   Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,  forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:31-32, ESV It has become apparent to me that I have been knock-my-socks-off, overwhelmingly, abundantly blessed by God with the people He has placed in my life. Truly, I am surrounded by some Jesus-loving women who seek God's will and strive to live in obedience to Him. They encourage me, they support me, and they don't think I'm crazy when I share with them what I feel God has in store for my life, no, they just keep lifting me up in prayer. They are each different and unique and they are precious, precious treasures to me. So, this afternoon I spent my lunch hour sharing a meal with one such friend. She's a foster mom who gave up her career in nursing to stay home, homeschool the children she had at the time and then she and her husband s...