Tending to the Broken Part 2

I was cutting the pizza when the question came from our foster daughter. 

"Nan, are you going to miss me?"

I put the pizza cutter down, got on my knees in front of her, fighting back tears.

"Baby Girl, I am going to miss you more than you can know.  And even though you aren't going to live with us anymore, we will always and forever love you.  Now come here and sit on my lap so I can hold you one more time."

Within an hour, we were going to witness the third miracle of the week.  But unlike the first two (clean mammogram, no septic system replacement required), this one was going to hurt.

I had been asking The Lord to equip me with plastic lips for this miracle.  Plastic lips?  Oh, you know.  The ability to smile when inside your heart is broken.

Technically, that would have been the fourth miracle.  I am just not a plastic lips person!

"They're here!  They're here!" she squealed with complete delight, flinging open the front door to discover that not only were her parents there, but 3 of her brothers and her 2 sisters too.

Miracle Number Three.  Right there in front of us.

They loaded the truck with the boxes I had carefully packed with all of their stuff, put the car seats back in their place, and then came inside so that I could take a picture of them.

They sat on the couch, our foster daughter on her dad's lap, our foster son on his mom's with all the other kiddos crowded around. 

I knelt down in front of the little girl that I had been a mother to for 5 months. 

"Baby Girl, today is a miracle.  You get to go home with your parents--something we didn't think was possible.  But all things are possible with The Lord.  Remember this day, Honey."

Then they were saying their good byes, their parents telling us "thank you" for taking care of their kiddos all these months, and then they were gone.

And I stood there with Grace clinging to my waist as she sobbed, and Isaac doing the same on the other side.  Matt stood a bit away from me, fighting tears and looking shocked.  And I was overwhelmed with the task at hand--tending to the broken hearted.

But this time, the broken were our own three amazing, cherished children.

And I had no idea what to do.  Because I was heart broken myself.

And that's when the leader of our house--my tender husband--did something so perfect it was absolutely breathtaking.  He sat us all down on the couch where moments before a family had been reunited, and he spoke words to us that dried our tears and brought us peace.

We had given our hearts to two little ones who desperately needed a safe place to wait--to wait patiently while The Lord prepared to deliver a miracle.  We taught them about hope.  We taught them about caring for family. We taught them to live life to its fullest even when they feel broken. 

It's impossible to teach such lessons to others without believing in them yourselves.  So I don't think we will be broken for long...I'm smiling this morning, and it's not because God gave me plastic lips.

No Confidence in Myself

Next week is a big week for our household.  I have my follow-up mammogram, the plumbers will decide if we need a new septic system or not, and the courts will decide if our foster kids go back home or stay with us.

To be honest with you, the Nancy Garling I know wants to hide under her electric blanket and pretend none of it is going to happen.

The Nancy Garling that The Lord wants me to be should spend the weekend enjoying life and loving on those He has blessed me with for this season.

So.  How do I choose to be the Nancy Garling that the Lord wants me to be (rather than choose to be buried under my electric blanket)?

I am certain someone out there is dealing with the same choice today.  Perhaps your circumstances are more sobering than mine, more complicated, more painful.  Whatever your circumstances are, hear me when I tell you that Satan relishes in seeing you bury yourself under that electric blanket too.  That should make you mad.  Because The Creator never meant for us to live in fear.

When I was in a particularly bad season of my life, my cousin Susie told me that she couldn't wait to see what The Lord was going to do through that circumstance.  I thought she was off her rocker thinking like that, and invited her to join me under my electric blanket.

But her words stuck with me, and I began to recall all of the amazing ways that The Lord has moved in my life.  And soon, I peeked out from under that blanket.

You see, I think the key to deciding how you are going to live in the face of trials starts with one simple word.

CONFIDENCE.

Not in yourself--no!  Confidence in what The Lord will do in your life.  Because He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion (Philippians 1:6).

So get your paper and pen.  If you can't drag yourself out from under your electric blanket to get them, call on someone to help you get those items and start writing down all of the ways that The Lord has moved in your life.  Ask Him to remind you of those times.  Get others in your inner circle to remind you of other times that you can't recall.  Write them down and put them in your pockets.  They are your history with The Lord and will see you through those times when you are tempted to hide under your electric blanket.

So if you are wondering, I am choosing to be a biscuit this weekend and soak up all the joy The Lord has blessed me with today.  

Because I am CONFIDENT in HIM.