Disclaimer: I've been thinking about writing this post for a long time so I have a lot to say about this topic and I'm going to have to write it in sections.
I have had a heart for orphans for a really long time. In fact, I can remember talking to a friend in Starbucks the summer in between high school and college about how someday I would love to adopt. That summer I was a lost 18-year-old who didn't really know what I wanted out of life. Almost daily I was faced with the question of what I wanted; did I want Jesus or did I want the pleasures the world had to offer me? About 90% of the time, I chose the world because it just seemed a lot easier and more comfortable. But yet, I had this longing to be a mother to a child who did not have a mother, and I had this desire to adopt and care for a child that was not my own. This was a very biblical picture of grace for someone who didn't even crack open her bible open other than maybe on Sunday and maybe the week of Christmas and Easter.
Fast forward two years...
June 9, 2009 I finally committed my life to Christ. I finally decided to quit running, let go, die to myself, and live my life for Jesus. I was about to embark on my junior year of college and I was working over 40 hours a week while I was at home for the summer. One job was an internship that was great experience, but I didn't enjoy it like I wanted to, and the other was in the restaurant industry. I was saving up to study abroad for a few weeks over JanTerm, so basically everything I made went into savings, and by the end of the summer I was still short a few hundred dollars. When I returned to Samford for my junior year, I began searching for another internship. This time I wanted something totally different from what I'd done over the summer. I wanted to work for a nonprofit. I wanted to write. I wanted to make a difference in someones life. BUT, I needed to make money to for JanTerm. So I applied for a paid internship at the Alabama Baptist Children's Homes...what a blessing that turned out to be.
Working for the Children's Homes, or ABCH, opened my eyes to the need for people to step up and become a foster parent. There is such a need, in Alabama, in Jefferson County, and in Birmingham for people just to love kids who don't have anyone else. Before I worked at ABCH, I knew that there were kids out there who needed a roof over their head, someone to love them and care for them, and someone to share Jesus' love with them, but it wasn't very real to me; it wasn't tangible. Interning at the Children's Homes made such an impact on my life. I could literally see that there are children out there who need love, care, attention, and salvation.
I was blessed to be able to write stories about how God had used the Children's Homes to lift someone out of their darkest days (see Susan's Homecoming). I was able to write about how people were giving of their money and of their life for this cause (see Edith Snider, Lifelong Ambassador). I spoke with people about how this ministry has provided hope for them and even created an interest for the next generation (see LifePrints Cultivates Interest, Appreciation in Heart of Young Fan and Grace Through Restitution) and most importantly how people had come to know Christ through this ministry (see Salvation Story). Since beginning my internship in the Fall of 2009, I have been working pretty consistently with the Children's Homes.
In June of this year I was honored to attend Camp of Champions, which is the annual camp that ABCH holds for all of the kids in care. ABCH employees put on a VBS-ish curriculum for a couple of days while house parents and foster parents meet. They also get to swim, play paintball, watch movies, and just have fun together and share in the community of Christ that has been fostered through this ministry. My job was to take pictures that will be a lifelong reminder of God's sovereignty for these families and the ABCH ministry(see photos here and read Children’s Homes ministers to children, parents through Camp of Champions). I was humbled to witness the amount of love that God has provided to these children.
As I got into my car to drive back to Birmingham from camp, I was reignited with this longing to provide that same love to a child, or children, someday. I've been given so much, and not just material possessions and financial stability. I've been given love, grace, forgiveness, and a multitude of joy. I have to share it. We, God's church, have to share it.
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