As Wayne and I were eating dinner (chicken alfredo...yum!) last night, we were talking about how much God has and continues to bless us so much! The list could go on and on. We have a wonderful marriage, a precious son, Wayne has a great job....and almost didn't. He has received promotion after promotion since we have met, and the latest one would be another change of jobs. He works in the HVAC field at UAB. He is currently employed by Siemens and works as a contractor at UAB, but he has been in the process of seeking employment with UAB. Boy am I glad we decided to start this process months ago! Last Friday ALL of the Siemens employees at UAB were laid off...except for Wayne! The only reason he didn't get laid off was because they are already in the process of hiring him! PRAISE GOD! Can you imagine? No job with a newborn? My heart goes out to all of the families whose husbands just lost their jobs. It made me sweat just to think about it!
As we were talking about how much God has blessed us, I was reminded of something. Something I read earlier that day, but something that has been thought about for some time now. Wayne and I both have a heart for children, and through the past few years have both had ideas of how to be in ministry with them. The problem? Our ideas never coincide with one another. At one time, I wanted to be a foster parent (and still think it's a WONDERFUL thing), I've wanted to be involved with Sav A Life, I wanted to adopt, we wanted to do family mission trips together, Wayne wanted to get involved with The Big Oak Ranch (after hearing John Croyle speak). Anyway, the list could go on and on. The point? Yesterday I was reading Candace Cameron Bure's blog and she was talking about giving. I started thinking, "Is this what you want God? Do you want us to give more?" As I continued reading, she was talking about how giving is not always about money, but giving of your time can be just as important. This is where our flaws start to show! We have such busy lives, yada yada yada. You've heard the whole song and dance. For us, it's easier to write a check than it is to give up a day we could spend with each other and our son for the glory of God. I cringe as I even write this. This is something I am very ashamed of, but I'm getting it out right now.
I've been rambling for quite some time now, so what is this about? Later Yesterday, I was looking at The Big Oak Ranch website. For those of you who know nothing about The Big Oak Ranch, it's ran by the Croyle family (Brodie Croyle was the previous quarterback for Alabama). They take in children who have nowhere else to go. Wayne said that John Croyle told them there are more times than he can count that a Mercedes has dropped off a kid and never looked back. For so many, this is not about money. They just don't want these poor children. Can you imagine? I have been shown love every day of my life from my parents, and I cannot even begin to imagine what some of the kids have been through. Well, they have way too many children for just the Croyle family to tend to, so they have "house parents." (After hearing him talk, this is what Wayne was all about. Of course, this was before Jacob.) They live at The Big Oak Ranch in their own home, and take care of a certain number of children. When I was reading yesterday, I found that you can be what is called a "relief parent", and 4 times a year you go and give the house parents a weekend break and keep these precious children. See where I am going with this? I mentioned it to Wayne last night, and we are definitely going to be praying about this. In fact, it was weighing on my heart so much I couldn't sleep! Thank you to those friends we have that are already praying before I even ask! Please pray about this decision. Pray that God will make it VERY clear what He would like for us to do (whether it be give of our time or money)! If this is what He wants, I don't want to be able to say no!
It's so easy to say that you want to be in the center of God's will (who wouldn't say that), but saying and doing are two totally different things. Whether it be this or the next thing that comes, I want our family to be reaching out to others as a family! Thanks for your prayers!
3 comments:
I think that is great, and you know nothing has to change because of Jacob. There is no other way to teach your children the love of God than to involve them from the get go with you as you serve! We have always done that, Ashtyn was only a few months old when she took her first mission trip and the rest is history. If you want your children to be grounded in the things that matter most, than use your time together to serve. God will reward that and give you more and bless you more than you will know. Spend your time together serving God not just satisfying your flesh and what you want. I promise it will be worth it and you will be making a difference for eternity in the lives of others as well as your family! I will be praying, love you guys!
I think it is wonderful that you are so honest. Everyone has struggles and it is nice to know we aren't alone in them...Our new church does this thing at Christmas where you can adopt a child or family of children, or an elderly person. Basically you get their wish list of things they want for Christmas and you go from there. It is up to you to provide as much or as little as you want. Of course they encourage getting as much as you can - some families even go in together so the child will get all they asked for (this is the only Christmas they will have). Well, Brett and I adopted a little one year old girl because they are so much fun to shop for (hello, we have one at home - how could I not have fun with this). Well, one of the things on her list was a stroller. At first I just kept thinking I would get her an umbrella stroller because they are easy to travel with and they get the job done, but most importantly they are cheaper. For a couple weeks this is what I had planned to do, until I found myself in the store looking at something for myself that I didn't need, but might like to have. I'm telling you God put a thought in my head at that moment letting me know my heart was not in the right place about what we were doing. The purpose was not to provide the minimum and get the cheapest things. The point was to show the love of God by giving to someone the things they didn't have, but that we are so blessed with. Needless to say, I found my way over to the strollers and picked her out the coolest sport stroller that had all of the major necessities and real rubber tires...definitely more money than I was planning to spend, but the feeling was more than I could have asked for. We had so much fun wrapping her presents and thinking about what her face would look like when she opened them! I've really learned that just because I may be going through the actions doesn't mean I have the right motivation. This is something I'm working on!
I will be praying for you and Wayne to find exactly what God wants you to do. I pray that He puts it right in front of your face and gives you no way out! By the way, the fact that Wayne still has a job is a true testament to the Blessings God will bestow on us if we listen and follow him!
p.s. sorry my comment is so long :)
Michelle! Thanks so much for the encouragement! I wish so bad we lived closer! I have done the Christmas thing you are talking about with my dad's church, and you're right...nothing's better! I have such a desire in my heart to do SOMETHING! I just wish to goodness we could figure out what that something was! Thank you so much for the prayers. I need to go to your page now and tell you to check this! I forget it's not facebook!
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