Plus One

One year ago today, our lives changed in a drastic way.  We added a plus one to our brood.  What was supposed to be short term has turned into anything but.  The year has been anything but easy.  It has taken patience and pouring into someone who we barely had a relationship with.  It has pulled me and stretched me in ways I never imagined.  It has frustrated me and made me angry in ways I'm not proud of.  But it has been our journey and our journey alone.

One lesson I've learned:  doing the right thing is often NOT the easy thing.  There are many who can't see the world outside their immediate household.  To do so would mean acknowledging the hurt, injustice, and poverty that takes place even among the people in our communities and dare I say...families?  It would be easier to turn a blind eye than admit more could be done.  I wanted to turn a blind eye, trust me, I did. Shoot, sometimes I still want to.  But serving God looks like this for now for us.  We've always said our neighborhood was our mission field--and this opportunity brought that statement to a whole new level.

We're helping him build a life he is very deserving of.  We are helping prepare him for the future and laying the foundation for his faith.  He is building a bridge between his past and his present.  He is looking forward to his future. He has been as much a gift to our family as we have been a gift to him.  One year later. . .I never expected life to look like this, but as always, I'm so grateful God's plans are always greater and more perfect than my own!

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.--Jeremiah 29:11