You can change a child's world.

As long as I have been a Christian I have felt a weight on my shoulders to help those who can't help themselves.  (This isn't a "I'm a hero" post.  I've done so little about that burden, other than just feel it.)  Helping people who need help is a strong value in the Christian faith.

I first started feeling this burden when I was a weekend youth pastor.  In college, Mindy and I would drive about an hour, each way, to serve at a little church with about 5-7 middle school and high schoolers.  I saw what some of those kids were going through and I thought that the only way to really make things better for them was to bring them into my home.  I didn't.  We couldn't.  But that thought never left me, "If you want to really change someone's life you have to let them live with you."

Several years passed and our family was blessed with having a young woman move in with us.  At the time, it was a tremendous leap of faith for me.  I was in my role as protector and provider for my wife and kids.  I didn't know how to relate to this young woman who took up residence in our home.  All I know is that God had led her to our home and I needed to be the best person I could be.  It was a time of growth for me.  I had someone who could see me, in my element, that wasn't related to me.  She would witness me get angry, pout, and be a slob.  It was so rewarding though.  The personal growth was great.  Her incredible relationship with my kids, and also her relationship with my wife were all great things.  It wasn't all easy.  I had to sacrifice some of my time with my wife.  I lost my basement.  

However, I was surprised at how easy it was to let someone come into your house and life.  The rewards were far more than the sacrifices.  It almost became mundane.  It just made our lives "bigger."  

She left and we had the house to just our family.  Then my wife told me that God wanted us to adopt a baby.  

Uh.....

That's a life-long thing!  You can have someone live with you for a while and then they move out.  A child is a completely different story.  At the time I was the only Pastor on staff of a church of about 200, going full-time to graduate school, and the sole provider for the family of 5.  But she was persistent and I believe that my wife tells the truth - so I believe that God talked with her and asked her to adopt.  So who am I to tell her, and God, no?  I went along with it.  She did most of the work, if not all of it.

So we adopted a little boy from Uganda.  It didn't ruin the whole family.  It brought us all even closer together.  Going through that experience with our biological children was an intense and rewarding time of bonding and growing.  Right now I'm blessed with 4 kids who are all great kids who are good people and love Jesus, and one of the biggest factors for that is the journey we all took together through opening up our home and family to add another member by choice not by birth.

I was worried that we would add a child to our family at the expense of our biological kids.  I learned that the opposite happens.  It's those moments of opportunity that change our lives.  Maybe this is your moment of opportunity.

Jody Jester, from Bridge a Life, writes; "Nationally, the number of kids in foster care was 415,129 in 2014... up from 401,000 in 2013. Currently, Florida has the highest number of kids in care since 2008. 
These are tomorrow's adults. Everyone can do something. What may seem small to you may mean the world to a kid in care."

You can bring one child into your home and change their entire world.  I know that you desire adventure.  I know that you want your life to matter.  I'm sure that you want your kids to grow up well and with a strong sense of family.  I know that you want your marriage to mean more than just a partnership.  I know that you want your life to count.  I know I'm not the only one that thinks about stuff like that.  I know that you want to make a difference and help.  I know that you are as sick of the news as I am.  If you are from my area, Bradenton, than you have just read two news stories about parents killing their own children.  You may look at that and be completely paralyzed by it.  Or you may look at that news and feel a call to action.  Are you ready to care for an abused and abandoned child?

You cannot change the world.  But you can change the world for a child.

Want to learn more?

If you live in the Bradenton area - mark your calendar for Friday, January 29th.  We will be hosting a 1-1-1 event where you can hear all about fostering and adopting.  It's simply informative with no pressure to sign up.  There will also be several local agencies on hand to help answer questions and give you the opportunity to get involved.

If you think that you should do this and want to talk with someone I'd love to talk with you about it.

Check out these local programs:




For the longer version of our story of Silas' adoption: http://timboyd.blogspot.com/2012/02/our-little-adoption.html


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