The End of a Season

Well, another season has come to an end at our house. After 3 1/2 months, Noel has moved to another foster home so that she can be with her brother. I know it's a good thing; I know they need to be together, but it still makes me sad. Though she was only with us for a short amount of time, she will be part of our family forever.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

A time to be born and a time to die,

A time to plant and a time to uproot,

A time to weep and a time to laugh,

A time to mourn and a time to dance,

A time to embrace and a time to refrain,

A time to search and a time to give up,

A time to keep and a time to throw away,

A time to tear and a time to mend,

A time to love and a time to hate,

A time for war and a time for peace.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing can be taken from it."

Ecclesiastes 3

I don't know if this is what the verse means or not, but I know I cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to the end of Noel's time with us. She learned simple things like her ABC's, counting, shapes, etc.; but she also learned eternal truths about our God and who He is and how much He loves her. I believe wholeheartedly that He worked in her life in mighty ways while she was with us, and I am trusting that the things He did in her while she was here will endure forever.

This promise from the Word keeps me going when this foster care thing gets tough. It is my prayer for each and every one of our foster kids:

"'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

I have to believe that, and I have to make my heart choose to say, "Blessed be Your name," even as He gives and takes away.

I love you, Noel!

The People Have Spoken

The poll to the left says it all. For my own part, I shall say nothing, either of lamentation or of rejoicing, for I refuse to take sides in this brutal battle of Orange vs. Red.

A Queen, a Painter and a Fish

Once upon a time, in a land not so very far away, a king and a queen lived in a castle. This King Chad and Queen Brenda decided that they wanted to paint their castle. Painters came from far and wide to help.
Now, there was a prince named Ian and he had a pet man-eating goldfish. This goldfish was kept in a tank in his chambers, but the tank had been relocated to the sink in the royal lavatory so that the prince's chambers could be painted.
The beautiful Queen Brenda was painting in the hallway when, suddenly, her shriek ripped through the air. "CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!!"
"What troubles you, my love?!" the king asked anxiously.
"THE FISH!!! THERE'S A FISH IN THE HALLWAY!!! CHAD, HELP!!!"
The noble king, however, was on a grand adventure atop a towering ladder in the entryway and was unable to come to his dear wife's rescue. Helplessly, he cried out, "Is there no one to aid my dear queen?! Prince Lukus! Princess Emilie! Prince Ian! Go! Save your mother!" But, alas, the princes and princess were too far away and could not hear the desperate cries of their helpless father and distraught mother.
But a young painter, by the name of Lindsay, was painting in a room near the hysterical queen. On hearing the screams, she poked her head out of the doorway to see what the commotion was about. What she saw was the queen jumping up and down and flapping her hands crying, "SOMEBODY HELP ME!!! THERE'S A FISH!!!! CHAAAD!!! I HATE FISH!!! THERE'S A FISH IN THE HALLWAY!!! HELP ME!!! IT'S A FISH!!! I NEED HELP!!! THE FISH!!! IT'S GOING TO GET ME!!! HELP!!!" Casting her roller aside, the brave painter leaped into the hallway. She courageously stepped between the frantic queen and her attacker and, with a swift, mighty hand, scooped up the deadly fish and flung it back into the tank, saving the queen from a terrible fate.
Thus did the painter rescue the queen from the fish.

THE END

Helpless

I hate seeing my friends in pain. More than that, I hate not being able to do anything about it. It breaks my heart to talk to a hurting friend on the phone, to hear the pain in their voice, and have nothing to say except a feeble, "I'm so sorry." I wish I had a way to fix it. I wish I had words that would take it away. I wish I could just snap my fingers and make their lives perfect. I wish that I could take all of their pain, their stress, their problems, everything that's weighing on their minds, away from them. I wish that I could bear it for them, if only for a moment, just to give them a chance to breathe.

I can't.

But I know Who can. So I do the only thing that I can do: I carry them to His feet, ask Him to take care of them, and trust Him to do it in a far better way than I ever could. I want to be like the friends of the paralyzed man in Mark 2 that carried him on his mat to Jesus. That's all I can do, but I will do it. I know I'm a kid. I know I don't understand all of the trials that my friends face. But as well as I can, I will do what my God calls me to do in Galatians 6:2, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." I will carry their burdens straight to the feet of Jesus, because it is the only thing I can do. Fortunately, it is also the best thing I can do.