Wow.
It has been 4 months since our life changed. 94 days since the three-letter word rocked my world again.
Yes.
Yes to following Jesus. Yes to marrying Brandon Smith. Yes to Wilmington. Yes to living downtown. Yes to teaching high school. Those are probably the biggest yeses I’ve made in the last 10 years.
And all of them seemed scary at some point. Each came with uncertainty, anxiousness, fear, tears, transition and loss of some sort. Oh, and, plenty of awkward conversations.
Saying yes to foster care was no different. There were many moments of confusion and asking each other, “how did we get here?” Somehow, in the midst of feeling unprepared, inadequate, slightly irrational, and definitely abnormal, God moved our hearts and feet anyways. I am really not sure how to explain it other than God gave us an unrelenting desire to be a part of caring for the children in our city, and there was no fear or awkward conversation that even began to suppress His calling on our family.
If Jesus was willing to leave the comfort of heaven to come suffer and DIE in my place, I am delighted to be able to give a little piece of myself and be a little less comfortable in order that a baby girl has a safe place to live right now.
In my opinion, life is about choices. There are times for no and there are times for yes. But whatever the case, we must refuse to let fear and feelings keep us from abundant life.
In the case of foster care, I am so thankful that He gave us the strength to say ‘yes.’ I could go on for days about how God has changed me and revealed His love in the sweetest ways through this experience. For now, I’ll wrap it up with this Psalm that so well celebrates who God is. 🙂
Psalm 103
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Her Highest Calling 
Just sat in my car reading this and cried. Sweet post! Thank you for writing about what God teaches you, it always encourages me!
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