It was also our churches annual Agape Sunday. Our church supports and partners with Agape of Central Alabama. Today was a little different. Today we not only focused on Agape, but Brad shined the light on the hurting children themselves and how we can help. These are the children that Agape and so many other agencies and families help. As you know this topic is near and dear to our hearts. This topic is our heart!
So let me share this, it does not matter how you get involved. Just get involved. There are lots of ways you can help.
* Obviously you can foster or adopt a child, but not everyone is called to do this. As Brad said this morning this might be your calling, but we are all called.
* You can support financially. You can support the agency themselves, or a family that is fostering or adopting, or the child them self, or the school they attend or the church they attend. Think about all the ways a few dollars could go to help a child or a family in an adoption or foster care situation.
* You can give tangible items. There are so many items that a family or child or even the agency might need. Clothes, Diapers, Food, School Supplies, Sports Equipment, Toys, Bedding, Towels, Toiletries, the list goes on and on.
* Time...this is a big one. Think about when you brought your newborn birth child home. Remember how tired you were when you got home with them and how your world completely changed. It was great wasn't it! :) Now imagine if they came home talking, maybe if they came to you from a terrible situation, or they had been abandoned. You can help by giving the parents even 10 minutes. Come and take the kids outside and play, or play a board game with them.
* Prayer...even if you can do nothing else pray for these kids, these families, these agencies, these workers, pray without ceasing.
* Encourage...you might not understand why someone has chosen the path that they are walking down, but if they have put it in God's hands who are we to question. We have had so many people ask us why we aren't using an agency or an attorney. Why would we go through the state, won't it be harder, won't the kids be hurt more? When we prayed about this we felt this was the path He wanted us to walk down. Encourage, ask questions someone will tell you what they can.
I started this off with asking if you ever felt like you were where you were supposed to be. Today was one of those moments that God reaffirmed that we are right where we are supposed to be. This year during Agape Sunday the families who have fostered, adopted and in the adoption stages were asked to UNITE together to read the United Prayer. The picture below is all of these families. How amazing is this?!?! In one church this is the some of the families who have been a part of adoption/foster care. God is working. We are so excited to be a part of this family. We are right where God wants us!
I also wanted to leave some of the ways some of these families on stage grew and are growing their families or are fostering:
There are so many other groups and agencies that you can look at, but these I know personally people are or have used. So get involved. I hope you are where God wants you to be. If you need a church or a group of adoptive/foster parents we have a great one. We are even starting a group of all of us at church so we can support each other.
Love to you all!
PS...we are still waiting in journey! But we pray every day for the child God has picked out for us. No matter where they are or what they are going through we are praying!
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