A Hope That Doesn't Ever End

I'm in the process of jumping through hoops in order to get licensed to provide a home for "unaccompanied refugee minors." The song in the video is by Kutless. I used pictures of displaced or orphaned Congolese, Rwandan and Burman children - but I could have easily put in pictures of myself to go along with the first verse:

Everybody falls sometimes

Gotta find the strength to rise

From the ashes and make a new beginning

Anyone can feel the ache

You think it’s more than you can take

But you're stronger, stronger than you know

Don’t you give up now

The sun will soon be shining

You gotta face the clouds

To find the silver lining.

I've been struggling for several years to make a new beginning. I've felt the ache at a level deeper than I thought possible. There were times I wondered if I would ever find relief. Would my cries for respite, for direction, for healing ever be answered? And now, when things look like they are beginning to take form - when bits of this and pieces of that are coming together to show a clearer picture - I stand in awe at how God has been busy picking up every stray fiber and bit of fuzz I've discarded and has woven it into something tangible and exciting and breath-taking. Has anything definitive happened yet? No, but the possibilities and potential are so incredible - I feel like the doors have been flung wide open and God has whispered in my ear, "See? I heard you. I was listening. I was working. Look what I've planned for you."

The desire, the dream is - and has been for a long time - to have children...something that is not really a biological possibility for me. I began looking at other alternatives...adoption, foster care, surrogacy... and somewhere along the line, I stumbled upon an organization that places refugee children in U.S. homes. The kids come from Eastern Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Burma primarily. Their parents are either missing or dead. Some are alone - some have siblings but all are without a place to live or adults to care for them. It seems a perfect match. Adult-less kids paired with a kid-less adult. I'll be looking at larger homes for the next several weeks and am praying that God will bring just the right place along.

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains

Hope that doesn’t ever end

Even when the sky is falling

I’ve seen miracles just happen

Silent prayers get answered

Broken hearts become brand new

That’s what faith can do.