[the voice of truth]

so we've had our new roommate since sunday afternoon and it's now wesdnesday morning. a lot has happened since then. it's kind of amazing how much change can happen to a family so quickly. to say his impact on us has been big would be an understatement. he has changed the core of how we do business in our house. as kelly and i were talking last night and reflecting on the day, we realized that our anticipation and fears haven't really subsided all that much. first we were worried about juggling our lives to get our certification classes done. then it was the fear of getting all of our paperwork turned in--and the stress of missing documents or information lost in translation. as we waited through the spring our fears increased as weeks and weeks went by with no contact from the division. fear and doubt wormed its way further into our heads.

of course, it was all for no good reason. we knew in our hearts that our God was faithful. we knew how the story would end. we knew that He would deliver to us a child hand-selected for our house. our timing and His timing are two very different things and we have to be patient. all of that worked out in the end.

the relief of timing, however, and having a foster placement hasn't subsided this tugging fear we still have. the fear is still there it's just focused on other things:

What if the kids at daycare don't accept him?

What if we can't provide him the medical care he needs?

What if his teachers can't understand him?
What if his Kindergarten teacher won't partner with us?

How will his needs be met without us?

What if he hurts the dogs or the dogs hurt him?

What if he's allergic to red dye #7 and we don't even know that and we give him fruit snacks every day of his life with red dye #7 and secretly he's miserable but can't communicate that?

What if we a live TV crew knocks on the door to give us the award for worst foster parents to ever live?

okay, so maybe those last couple are a stretch. the point is our fear is still alive and kicking. i doubt that will go away. i doubt it goes away for any parent. i think that's probably okay. it's designed to be that way. it forces you to walk a path of faith. it forces you to walk into the unknown. thank goodness we don't have to do it alone. i am so proud of my wife and all she's done for this kid in the short time we've had him. we are both lucky to have a spouse that believes in this hard work and who is willing to change EVERYTHING about their life to be a servant for the Lord. this is the work of God. i can't think of a better way to be the light of Christ than to open our home and hearts to a child in need. we are ALL the least of these in one way or another. i know that we can't save the world, but we can make a meaningful impact on this child. we can change the course of his life. we can set him on a path to make sure he's loved, cared for, and appreciated for what he is: child of the one true King. of course no matter how much kelly and i love and support one another we can't do it with just the two of us. we've already been blessed with so many facebooks/cards/texts/hugs/calls/emails/donations by our friends and family it's overwhelming. the love around us is astonishing.

the most important support comes from our faith in God and the love of Jesus Christ. we know that when we stumble or have doubts or are frustrated we can turn to Him for comfort and support. it is written more than 300x in the Bible to "fear not". we are determined to be strong in our faith and our love. the strength we gain from ignoring the worries of the world and listening to the voice of truth is enough to get us through anything. 

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