For Good Reason

We're on vacation :) We took the boys and Little Sis M away for a week before the girls moved in. It's been a time of rest, fun and reflection.

It was a year ago that God made it very clear to us that He was moving us away from the youth ministry. After five years, it was a time to grieve because it was (and still is) one of our deep passions. But God began to show us that the ways our home had been a safe place for these youth, He was now calling us to do the same for orphans. We had no idea a year ago how that would look.

The answer now...It's beautiful.

Jamie and I had a very turbulent first few years of our marriage. If my sisters are reading this, they're thinking...Yep. We are both passionate people. We love passionately, and we fight passionately. There's little in between. You wonder where my passion child, Benj, comes from.

We passionately planned the ways we would be most successful, and prayed God would bless our decisions. His answer was three wonderfully unexpected surprises in four years.

It was three months after we found out we were expected Daniel that God broke us completely. We gave up planning, on every front (ironically, we've had no bambino since then:) But seriously, we said from this point on God, whatever.

I have to be honest; in the back of my head I had visions of sacrifice and missional living. His answer to us was a lifestyle of loving and letting go. A lifestyle of showing families who met hopelessness, hope.

Jamie and I were talking through what our next season of life will look like. I won't lie; Satan keeps wanting us to be terrified. We're going into something that has very little plans. We've been told the timing is long. How long? Long.

But, we prayed whatever, and when you ask God for things, you need to expect He's gonna make you part of His answer. Would I miss being part of His answer in this case?

There's a Sara Groves song I love, and it goes, "For good reason hope is in our hearts. Alleluia, Christ our joy and strength."

How can I enter into something that I know will change our family's comfortable future? How can I hope when I have no idea what the next day or week or month or year looks like for us (even though none of us really do)?

Alleluia, Christ our joy and strength.