Brave

There are all sorts of examples of bravery in our world and I just have to tell you about the most recent example of bravery I had the privilege of witnessing.  I'm not sure what the results will be with these acts of bravery but I do know that God is using it and lives are going to be changed because a few kids showed remarkable courage.

Our Church had a service Sunday morning devoted to the  plight of the orphan and children in foster care.  If you know anything about our family you know we consist of one bio kid and three adoptees.  I once made the comment to someone that I didn't want our family to be the face of adoption to our Church and was immediately told "you are the face of adoption to our Church".  I guess there is no getting around that since we have never kept adoption a secret in our family but I had wanted our children to be the ones to put that out there if that's what they wanted to do. Anyways we got contacted about doing cardboard testimonies about how adoption had touched or changed our lives.  Let me tell you I was ready to throw the kids out there in front but Breck and I didn't really feel like we had a cardboard testimony that anyone could cheer about.  The cardboard testimonies I have seen have gloom on the first side and then JOY on the other side and everyone cheers.  Well our lives were not gloom before we adopted and they certainly aren't all JOY now that we have adopted.

I spoke with the kids and asked them if they would be willing to do a cardboard testimony about adoption and we talked about what they might want to say.  They were all eager to participate except for our one bio kid.  Jared felt like since he wasn't adopted his part of the story wasn't important.  After all he wasn't adopted so what could he possibly say that would be worth cheering about.  Don't we all feel that way about our lives?  How could anything I have to say make a difference?  We assured him that his part in the story was critical to their story.  Jared's heart is open to God's call and has been from an early age.  When we brought Griffin home and said this is your little brother Jared's little face lit up with JOY!  I still remember those two meeting for the first time in the airport.  How precious it was when Jared asked me if they were twins.......they were brothers bonded together for life by God.  When the possibility of adopting two more children into our family came up we didn't tell the boys anything but asked them to be praying and asking God if He wanted us to add anymore children to our family.  Nine days later Jared came and told me He didn't feel like God was asking us to add anymore boys to our family at this time and so I asked him....what about girls?......he said he didn't know about that but definitely not boys.  What an incredible heart God has given Jared!

As we sat there together trying to come up with the slogans for the cardboard testimonies I wanted them to be flowery and poetic.  You know carefully selecting the words that would characterize their journey of Beautiful Adoption, but you see it's not that easy because there is a lot of pain involved in Adoption.  Griffin wanted his to say from a unknown loving Mom and Dad to a known loving Mom and Dad.....but I couldn't write those words for him so I tried to steer him to Song less in Russia and now Heart full of Song which he gladly accepted.  Adoption is filled with pain....Adoption takes time to heal.....Adoption isn't easy......and Adoption doesn't really fit on a cardboard testimony.  We came up with some other slogans like "Fatherless and Motherless to now baby in a complete family"  and Alex offered up Beaten but I immediately cut her off and said oh no we don't want to say that.  We'll be honest but let's not be raw......

I emailed their flowery cardboard testimonies off and got a response back...."these are great what about yours and Breck's?"  Wasn't that enough?  Breck and I really had to do one?  This wasn't going to be so easy because we weren't willing to stand in front of our Church and lie. I finally sat down and asked God what should we say?  What's the truth God and what does the Church need to see?  What can we ask of our children?  I asked God to give me confirmation through Breck and the kids.  The words I had written were raw and painful did my kids really understand what they would be holding up?  Would this make them outcasts to their peers?  Could God use their stories to help a child and maybe even an older child get placed with a family?  Breck thought the kid's were spot on and liked some of the ones I had for us.  The kids without any hesitation agreed to theirs.  Still had the one hold out who didn't think his part was worth anything but he said o.k. too.

The Sunday morning we arrived with our cardboard testimonies no one knew what they were going to say because I didn't email the revisions.  I did tell Andrea I had changed them and they were pretty raw.  I also told Michelle and she said that was o.k. the Church needed to see raw.  I t was hard to stand before our Church and show them our wounds but they responded in LOVE!  Our hold out said he asked God to show him how he fit in all of this and God answered him so he was happy to be a part.  I was so proud of each one of our kids as they walked to the front of our church and held up their cardboard testimonies.  They saw the tears being shed but I'm not sure they really understood the magnitude of their actions.  I'm certain that God is going to use their bravery to change our Church.  I have heard from one family that said they have been considering fostering/adopting and this had made an impact.

I asked the kids if anyone came up to them after and they said yes a lot except for our hold out......he said the people were hugging the three but no one really came up to him except those Hester girls!  Oh friends if you do read this will you please not forget the biological children in a family of adoptees?  You see they are just as important to the story God is writing.....if Jared didn't have the heart he has I'm not sure there would be 4.  Each person in a family that has opened their hearts and home to foster children or adopted children is very important so let's not ever over look them.  Jared's lack of acknowledgement didn't really affect him because he had heard from God. 

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S.  I may try to do a little video of our portion of the cardboard testimonies so you can see at least our family's part.  There were some other families involved too and I wish I had the entire video to post but not sure the Church will be able to put that out for viewing.