| Come and See What God Has Done.... |
| As elated as I was, though, the thought occurred to me that yeah, this whole thing seems like such a great situation, but why did the Lord wait �til halfway through the summer to lead me to it? But then I remembered that the lady on the phone had told me that they had been closed for the last few months remodeling and bringing in a new couple to be the directors. God had told me to call the week before they were to reopen!!! |
 |
 |
 |
| Well, long story short, I went to the children�s home expecting to wash dishes and clean closets for free and wound up being paid to basically entertain some of the most wonderful children I�ve ever met in my life . Seriously, it was probably the most satisfying time of my life. Here were these amazing kids, so sweet and funny, but who had been so mistreated and |
| neglected, and I just got to come in and love them and play with them and reemphasize the message of God�s love that the directing couple was already telling them about. |
| I was so happy, and yet my heart was absolutely broken for these children. One day in particular, I remember coming home and just weeping over these kids and their situations. My entire view of the world was changing. As I got to know the kids better and loved them more and learned more about their histories, the silly things I used to care about just faded into the background of the reality of hurting people. I�ve never thought of myself as a particularly sympathetic or sensitive person, but I was becoming passionate about allowing God to use me to help make right the injustice of the things that had happened to these children. I had lived such a cushy life with such wonderful parents, but some of these kids had literally been deserted, abandoned. I felt like a whole other part of my self had been awakened for the first time. I was overcome with passion for something that really mattered. |
| At the same time, I could still see God�s hand at work in my circumstances. As I spent more time with the couple that directs the home and listened to them discuss things, I realized that I already knew a good bit about the workings of a children�s home just from tutoring and mentoring in past years. I also realized that I was building up more and more knowledge every day about how a children�s home is run and how the foster system works. Could it be that God intended a long-term involvement for me in some kind of foster system work? Everything kind of came to a head one day when I was at the home working with a lady who had been doing social work for decades. She called me over to her and said, �What�s your major at school again?� I laughingly reminded her that it was accounting. She said, �Oh honey, that�s not you. I watch you with these kids, and it�s just as plain as the nose on your face that this is what you�re supposed to do. You�re not no paper shuffler.� |