Are you ready?
Are you ready to be lied to...to be stolen from...to be ridiculed...to be so exhausted you can barely speak in complete sentences?
Are you ready to hear words that you thought would never be spoken in your home...
Are you ready to be humbled at every turn?
Are you ready to give up most of your worldly possessions?
Are you ready to be hated for a season because of all the wrongs that were imposed on your child from others that came before you?
Are you ready to face the stares of others? or to face the parents of those your child caused harm to?
Are you ready to walk away instead of engaging in a battle that you certainly won't win? And are you ready to stay right beside your child even when every part of your being wants to just walk away? maybe even run away?
Are you ready to face the fear that you can't handle this and know that you can't..only the God of the universe can?
Are you ready to face feeling like a failure at this whole parenting thing?
Are you ready to know with certainty that you did not take the comfortable route in this life?
Are you ready to live a life that has not been wasted and experience immense joy in the smallest of accomplishments?
Are you ready to give up the privacy you once had? There are therapists, PCA's and law enforcement that will know more about you than you may have been willing to share? and they will all have their opinions about the way you are parenting..
Are you ready to show love to a child that you don't feel much love for?
And are you ready to get up the next morning and choose to show that love all over again?
Are you ready to accept that your child's future may not be anything like you had envisioned when you started on this journey? Are you willing to give a huge part of your life so that your child may have just a chance at fully living theirs? And if they fail, are you ready to know that it was worth it even if they do not come to know the Lord in the way you had dreamed for them?
Are you ready to trust that the Lord knew your every step before you took them..he knew what you would endure..he knew what your other children would endure..and he says "I am enough.."
Are you ready to deal with the realities that love is not enough but Jesus is..
If you are being called by God to walk down this path...
Are you ready? If you are not, but you are confident that you are being called to this--hang on for dear life and you will find a life waiting for you so worth living. You will experience the depth of God's provision and grace in ways you didn't even know existed. You will be amazed at all that God has in store for you..if you are ready to trust Him with all of your heart...then you are ready whether you feel like it or not. You will not walk this journey alone. God will always be there..always. And there are lots of us walking this journey alongside of you..we will be there too.
There is no greater place to be than on the path that God has laid before you. There are lots of us along the side of the road willing to come alongside of you as you take your first steps...If you are willing to step on the path God is calling you to, you are ready...
wow.... you are speaking directly to my heart. I am yearning for something more in my life right now. Not sure if this is directly the path God is leading us down but I dont think it's by 'chance' that I've come across many of these blogs lately. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteJessica, Dayton PA
Amen!!, sister. You said it. We are parents of 12 kids...7 of whom came to us thro the foster care system. I want to say that I feel honored to be working w/ my Heavenly Father taking care of His kids. As I've heard "Parenting isn't for cowards"...neither is parenting this way BUT the rewards are eternal. It feels like we are truly alive.
ReplyDeleteWhat? They would lie to me? Really? Good news is God always tells us the truth doesn't he....there will be suffering, pain, joy, sorrow and He will never refuse to return our calls will He?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this post! We are in the process of foster/adopting our 6.5 year old son (we already have 12, 10, and 7.5 year old bio boys) and this post really hit home. Thanks.
ReplyDeletebeautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. I've never read your blog before, but was directed here by someone who knew I could relate. Though my circumstances are far different from yours, it appears that my feelings are amazingly similar. Though my family life looks much different than I imagined it would, I have no doubt that God has me right where He wants me to be. I'm able to keep going because I have to believe He thinks I can do it, even when I fail to see how. I intend to come back to this page when I need some encouragement. Thank you for sharing in such a transparent way.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. We have had our foster daughter with us for 11 mos now and they have just changed her goal to adoption...i think we're ready(:
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post Julie!!
ReplyDeleteOh, Julie. Thank you for writing this. I needed every word tonight.
ReplyDeleteWell said!
ReplyDeleteOn those days when I don't feel ready (it's a little late for that now, isn't it?!), I'll come back and read these words. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and faith in the journey.
ReplyDelete~Kari
Wonderfully written, I want to use it on my blog for my teacher friends and others who care about my children.
ReplyDeletethis is great....i would include orphanages too. My friends who adopted from overseas are having the same exact challenges as we have had with our two boys who came from the system!! Thank God that HE has begun a good work in them and will not let them go until he has completed HIS work in them!
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting into words what my heart needed words for. :) Were we ready? Nope. But God was, and he was ready for US!
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Hannah
Really well put. As the father of 13, 12 adopted special needs kids who came from the system, this is right on the mark. As the adults we CHOOSE to get up each morning and love our kids for who God created them to be, not what circumstances have caused them to be. We love them for who they are, not their behaviors
ReplyDeleteI thought I was ready... and God has prepared me (I thought I was just being given a really hard road to travel)... but this was soooo much harder than I thought it would be. The reality of 24/7 with children like mine is nothing like I tought it would be.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read your blog.
Mary in TX
Mom to biokids Ponito(11) and his sister Bob(14)
Sibling pair adoptive placement from NE 11/06
Finally finalized on Kitty(15) on 3/08 - 2 weeks before her 13th birthday!
Finalized on her brother Bear (17) 7/08. He turned 15 the next day.
" Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain."