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Living Like I Believe
Do you ever feel tired of living this
safe, saved, American dream life? Where you have your people, and
your home, and your routines, and God is there. It all fits in a neat
little box that you can somewhat control and predict. For the most
part, it is fulfilling, and happy. It’s hard work, but it’s good.
But there’s just something missing. Something that is inside you
that longs for more. Not in an “I’m not content with my life”
sort of way, but in a “God…I know there’s more” sort of way.
That was me. I love my life. I love my
Jesus. I love my husband. I adore my children. I like my house. I
love my life. It’s hard work, but it’s good. But you know what? I
realized that I have been living very safe. I am not downplaying the
importance of being a wife, a mother, a home manager, and EVERYTHING
that goes along with those jobs. They are important. As moms, we are
called to make disciples at home. We are called to respect and serve
and love our husbands. We are called to discipline our children. We
are called to be busy at home, holding down the fort, so to speak, so
that our home is a haven for our man and our kids. We have a BIG job.
But you know what? We also have a BIG God. And He doesn’t want us
to live safe lives in our white fences. He wants us to live like we
believe in Him. Like we believe He can provide. Believe He can carry
us. Believe that he will give us wisdom, if we would only ask, and
BELIEVE.
That’s when I called about hosting a
little girl through New Horizons. That’s when I explained to the
sweet woman on the phone that we were adoption minded. And that’s
when she told me about these two.
These two sweet boys. She said “I
think they would be the perfect fit for your family. But if you were
adoption minded, you’d be adopting four. They have a little brother
and a little sister as well.” And so she told me their story, and I
cried. I hadn’t even seen their faces yet, and I felt God. I felt
Him changing my mind. You see…we only wanted to host one little
girl. Not two. Not boys. Adoption minded… yes. Adoption
minded…meaning we would love to adopt ONE child. Not FOUR!!! But I
told her I would talk to my husband, and that I would call her back
soon to let her know. I hung up the phone and looked them up, and I
just cried a little bit more.
Needless to say, Russ said yes. We
pray for them all the time. We literally love them already. We talk
about everything from the challenges, to the good stuff, like how we
sure hope they like Lincoln logs. And Ava, our sweet Ava, she talks
about them like she’s known them her whole life. The other day she
yelled at the cat for sleeping on “K”’s bed.
Not everyone gets it. Heck, I’m just
starting to wrap my brain around everything. But I know I want to
live like I believe in my very BIG God. Believe that he can provide.
Believe that he can give us strength to do this. Believe that he will
protect our family. Believe that he will help us help these kids.
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People say things like … its just
such a hard time of year, with Christmas coming, to ask people to
give. And to that I say I want my kids to learn that people matter
more than presents. They will learn, first and foremost, by what they
see. But aren’t you worried you wont be able to give your kids the
Christmas you want because you’re spending all of this money? After
I just shake my head in disbelief that someone actually would say
that out loud, I respond the same response. People matter for
eternity. Kids matter for eternity. THESE LITTLE BOYS MATTER FOR
ETERNITY. Toys don’t. Plus, I asked Ava if she would rather have a
toy or a couple big brothers to play with for Christmas, and she said
big brothers.
Christmas is truly a magical time of
year, full of Jesus, family, traditions, lights, music, cookies,
food, and footie pajamas. I love Christmas. I cannot wait to share
Christmas with these boys. Because we believe they matter. Their
souls matter. And we believe that God… He’s got us in His hand. I
bet He’s happy that we’re doing this.
**************************If you'd like to help the Dawson family host these boys this Christmas, please click here!
If you are inspired by these stories of hosting so far, and you want a chance to stretch your faith, I have an idea! I had this idea in the middle of the night, so if it seems weird, that's why. I would like to suggest a "sponsor a day" donation. The total hosting fees to New Horizons are going to be $5,800.00 (that doesn't include a lot costs, like airfare and stuff, but it's a starting point). If we divided that by 30 days, it comes out to $193.33! Considering we Americans are planning on spending an average of $800.00 per family on unneeded gifts that are junk by July, I'd like to ask that you consider sponsoring a day for 'D' and 'K' to have a family this Christmas! Let it be your first gift of Christmas!
XO Joce
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