If you would've told me a month ago that the events that went down in our house last night would happen, I would've told you that you were crazy. I write this blog not to boast but to encourage others that when we surrender our will to God's will, miracles really do happen.
Last evening we had the privilege of celebrating our foster daughter's 16th birthday. Knowing that this was a very special birthday & the teen years are hard enough, without adding being in foster care, God laid it on my heart to invite her momma. For some of you reading this & not knowing our story you may be thinking that's not a big deal. Let me back up a bit.
A lot of times in foster care, not always though thankfully, we're looked at as the bad guys that are trying to take away the birth parent's children. The birth parent's usually seemed threatened by us even if we try to come across in a friendly manner. For months our foster kiddos birth momma has had a very negative attitude towards us to the point of trying to find something wrong with us at each weekly visit. More energy was spent on tearing us down then doing what needed to be done to get her children back home with her. The situation escalated to the point of accusations made from her accusing us of abusing her children. There was even a court date to discuss these accusations. Needless to say nothing came from it because the children are safe and no abuse has ever happened. My flesh was raging with anger. How dare someone accuse us of abuse when all we're trying to do is help them out by taking care of and loving on their children while they get the help they need. Then there's God...
At a meeting we were all at my flesh was all ready to put up a fight to protect myself and my family. What I didn't realize going into that meeting though that God was going to do a 360 on my heart and allow me to see this momma as a broken individual that needed Him. He even allowed me to compliment her. What? Compliment someone who has accused me of abusing her children. Dear friends, when God gets a hold of our hearts, miracles happen in such ways that we cannot even fathom in our earthly minds. Ever since that meeting God has been putting a desire in my heart to build a relationship with this momma. Fast forward now back to last evening...
We got permission to invite her to our foster daughter's birthday party. The excitement on our foster daughter's face when she saw her momma was worth it all. She screamed and ran and gave hugs. I could tell as the evening went on how thankful she was to have her momma there. Her little brother even got to be fed by her momma and they sat around our dining room table eating and talking together. For someone who has control issues, aka me, God really helped me to take a step back and relinguish control and just be present in a different role that evening. Opening our home to ministry to allow healing to begin in relationships.
Once again I write this to encourage you, not to be boastful. Wherever you are at in your walk with the Lord remember He is a God that still performs miracles. Don't give up! Surrendering your will to His, will prove to be one of the best decisions you will ever make.
