Has it really been 4 1/1 weeks. Did she really spend the entire month of July with us. I have so many thoughts running through my head since we have said goodbye to "our" Tanya (as the kids call her). Will she keep in touch? Can we keep in touch? Would she want to come back at Christmas? Can we afford to bring her back at Christmas? Did we sow enough seeds in her heart? Does she know that she is deeply cared for? More importantly does she know that she has a Heavenly Father who cares for her? Did we do enough? I know we bought enough (she couldn't take it all back), but did we bless her enough? The questions keep coming.
I am so thankful that our friend reeled us in. This whole process started with a midnight Facebook message from a friend I haven't talked to in years. It started with a tiny seed that she planted...and it grew into an amazing experience for us, for our children, and hopefully for Tanya. We weren't that family she was expecting to go to...I think it took her a while to get over that. But in the end the surprising tears in her eyes as we hugged at the airport gave her away. She might miss her friends, but she did care, she did enjoy us, we did touch her heart.
I have thought a lot about this amazing program...I started out with scrutiny, wondering if it was really "fair" to bring someone here just to send them home back to their life. To literally drop them into paradise only to send them back to the lonely, survival of the fittest life? Even after Tanya has come and gone I have questioned all of this...really wondering if our short period of time in her life will ever make a difference. Then I read something that my friend wrote. She and her husband have hosted 6 children over the last few years. She is the one the Lord used to draw us in. Her husband is deployed and she still hosted. She gave me permission to share this and it really settled my spirit this morning as I think back over this last month...I hope it will touch your heart and encourage you to be willing to do what God has called you to do - whatever that may be!!
"As I sit here in the middle of the night with boarding passes printed, last minute instructions emailed, bags "almost" packed, I wonder in awe of how God has moved so mightily in the last 5 weeks, in all the volunteers, in all the families and children, and in all the preparation that has come before and during.
This program is complex. More complex than I knew even 6 months ago. The hours that... volunteers put in answering questions, trying to solve problems, mentoring, figuring out logistics of airports and bus terminals and coordinators, keeping track of 300+ passports and confirmation #s, planning interview trips, traveling around the world twice a year, interviewing 500+ kids, being in compliance with foreign countries rules and regulations is stunning.
Did you know we have a coordinator that ONLY deals with chaperones? Or one who ONLY does airport and bus information? Or one who is our special needs coordinator? Or that ONLY LeAnn does all these flights and connections?
Then I think on the families. The families that give up vacations, fund raise even when its so uncomfortable, rearrange bedrooms, borrow beds, spend $100s on clothing and mp3s and suitcases and backpacks and toiletries and little gifts and tickets to events, make so many more phone calls than you can imagine to find dental care and eye doctors that will donate their services, and then....they bring in hurt children into their lives. They disrupt their own children's lives, they bring in uncomfortable situations, they bring in a language barrier, they bring in weariness.
Then I think on the children. Hurt children. Children with messy, volatile, uncertain pasts and lives. Children with no parents to tuck them in and protect them and teach them. These children get on buses and trains and planes and fly with people they don't know across the world. When they arrive they are literally thrust into the arms of perfect strangers who they can't communicate with. They smell weird things. They don't understand our culture and manners. The food tastes funny. Their favorite things aren't here. It's scary. And yet look how brave they are! They chose to come!
And then I think of Jesus. He has put these tuggings into the hearts of ALL the people involved. He has stirred something inside them to make them do these crazy ridiculous things. He does it on purpose. Seeds are planted. He woos hearts. He begins healing. He pours blessings out even in the midst of the worst day imaginable. He teaches. He shows how reliable He is. He shows us how much He loves us.
This program changes lives and hearts. Each one of my 6 host children has changed me, touched me, taught me, brought me closer to Jesus. They ARE my children. They are a part of my story, and I am a part of theirs. I love each and every one of them.
And so I sit here in the middle of the night in awestruck wonder at how big my God is and that He loves each one of us so much that He causes normal, everyday people to do crazy ridiculous things.
I hope I am always ready and willing to do those crazy ridiculous things for Him."
This program is complex. More complex than I knew even 6 months ago. The hours that... volunteers put in answering questions, trying to solve problems, mentoring, figuring out logistics of airports and bus terminals and coordinators, keeping track of 300+ passports and confirmation #s, planning interview trips, traveling around the world twice a year, interviewing 500+ kids, being in compliance with foreign countries rules and regulations is stunning.
Did you know we have a coordinator that ONLY deals with chaperones? Or one who ONLY does airport and bus information? Or one who is our special needs coordinator? Or that ONLY LeAnn does all these flights and connections?
Then I think on the families. The families that give up vacations, fund raise even when its so uncomfortable, rearrange bedrooms, borrow beds, spend $100s on clothing and mp3s and suitcases and backpacks and toiletries and little gifts and tickets to events, make so many more phone calls than you can imagine to find dental care and eye doctors that will donate their services, and then....they bring in hurt children into their lives. They disrupt their own children's lives, they bring in uncomfortable situations, they bring in a language barrier, they bring in weariness.
Then I think on the children. Hurt children. Children with messy, volatile, uncertain pasts and lives. Children with no parents to tuck them in and protect them and teach them. These children get on buses and trains and planes and fly with people they don't know across the world. When they arrive they are literally thrust into the arms of perfect strangers who they can't communicate with. They smell weird things. They don't understand our culture and manners. The food tastes funny. Their favorite things aren't here. It's scary. And yet look how brave they are! They chose to come!
And then I think of Jesus. He has put these tuggings into the hearts of ALL the people involved. He has stirred something inside them to make them do these crazy ridiculous things. He does it on purpose. Seeds are planted. He woos hearts. He begins healing. He pours blessings out even in the midst of the worst day imaginable. He teaches. He shows how reliable He is. He shows us how much He loves us.
This program changes lives and hearts. Each one of my 6 host children has changed me, touched me, taught me, brought me closer to Jesus. They ARE my children. They are a part of my story, and I am a part of theirs. I love each and every one of them.
And so I sit here in the middle of the night in awestruck wonder at how big my God is and that He loves each one of us so much that He causes normal, everyday people to do crazy ridiculous things.
I hope I am always ready and willing to do those crazy ridiculous things for Him."
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment