Last September our church did a Bible study series called “Not
a Fan” by Kyle Idleman. This was the first Bible study that Chad and I have
done together. It challenged us to look into our lives. It begged the question…”are
you a true follower of Jesus? Or just a fan?”
After weeks of soul searching, daily challenges, bible
diving, and a ton of prayer… we were changed. Chad and I realized that we were
simply fans of Jesus …and that was no longer acceptable…we wanted to be
followers. Every. Single. Day.
This is the story that stepped on our toes and opened our eyes:
A family was preparing
to go on vacation for a month. They hired a sweet, young couple to house sit
for them while they were away. The family created a journal for the young
couple with directions on how to care for things while they were gone. The journal
included directions on how to feed and tend to the animals. It asked them to
get the mail and water the flowers. It told them which day was trash day and which
bills to send off. The couple was excited and ready for their job to begin.
A month went by and the family returned from
vacation. As they pulled up to the house they noticed that the mail was pouring
out of the mailbox, the flowers were dead and the animals were starved. The
house was dark because the power had been disconnected. The young couple rushed out to meet the family
with HUGE smiles! They were excited! They told the family of all that they had done
with the journal. They memorized every line. They had friends over to talk
about the journal. The couple even highlighted the important parts. They were
certain that they had done a wonderful job and awaited their pay.
The family was
infuriated and sent the couple away with nothing…..
You see friends…Chad
and I are that sweet, young couple….
We go to church, we tithe, and we even participate in a
mission project or two. These are all good things ….however we only do these
things when it is convenient. We do not listen for His direction for our lives.
We are not obedient. We are fans!
We have not allowed our life to be interrupted.
Until now….
“Then Jesus told his disciples, “if anyone would come after
me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
“ Matthew 16: 24-25
So…After many months of calling us in a way that only God
can do…we have begun a journey that we NEVER imagined to be on.
We are on our way to
becoming Foster Parents!
YIKES!!!!! Saying it out loud is even scary for me! Talk
about a life interrupted…….
How we got to this point is a whole new blog in itself!!!!! But
feel free to ask me anytime…I love talking about how our God works! But please make
no mistake…This is something that Chad and I could not do without Gods calling
and direction. It is such a personal decision that it is difficult and scary for me
to share.
We started this journey in November. We have completed 2
months of training and mounds of paperwork. We have passed drug screens, back
ground checks, and we are awaiting our final medical evaluations and the
paperwork will be complete! Then the home studies begin!
We have kept this to ourselves for quite a while. We wanted
to make sure that this is the direction God was leading our family. We were not
ready to hear outside opinions and wanted to listen for only God’s voice!
However, we have come a
long way and we are ready! Well…actually I don’t ever think we can be totally
ready … but we are 50% prepared and 100% prayed up!!!!!
In reality, I started this whole blogging thing because I
wanted to track our Foster journey. I want to remember how and why we started this
and to be able to look back on all that God has done! Even if we never have one
foster child in our home…I never want to forget how He changed a heart like
mine!
I want Eva and Colt to be able to see how God has moved in
our family so that they can trust Him with theirs!
Will you pray with us on this journey? Oh how we need them!
“Jesus never said it would be easy, but He said it would be worth it!”
Matthew 7: 13-14
Dreaming of a house full of crazy,
Erin
**our specific prayer
need this week is for us to get all of our paper work complete! **
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