Psalm 145 is a song of God’s majesty and love…
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and tender mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall praise You O Lord, and Your saints shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and talk of your power. Psalms 145:8-11
Inspired by God’s love, people have done the most unimaginable things like forgive the unforgivable, love the unlovable, embrace the rejected, and even lay their own life down for another. His ways are not our ways and love is always at the center of why we can show compassion instead of anger.
God’s love was spoken over our family through a man who we believe prophesied over us. He told me to write down a vision for our family. He gave us this scripture…
Write a vision, and make it plain, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time, Though it takes time, wait for it, because it will surely come. It won’t delay. Habakkuk 2:2-3
My husband Robert and I wrote down on a canvas that we desired to have a home large enough to care for foster children. During my college years I learned that many children did not have a place to stay where they felt safe. Sometimes their parents were suffering hardships that led to substance abuse, neglect and verbal, physical, and sexual abuse.
I have learned over time that I have a gift to serve, and I have compassion and mercy for this population. However, it has not always been easy to love the parents who had let their own children down. It was hard to forgive someone who repeatedly disappointed their child by not working their plan from the state to get them back. Often, they would choose substances and partners over their children due to such strong addictions.
When reading the scriptures we hear time after time, love your enemy, forgive, and show them mercy. This became a reality for me when I started to see biological parents as people who are good and deserving of love and outreach. I started fighting for not just the child but for their biological family to break the strongholds and be released into complete healing.
I was able to speak of the glory and kingdom and God’s unconditional love for them and show the power of what he had done in my own life.
Biological parents changed their perceptions of me and my family when they saw that we were for them. We loved them and genuinely wanted them to have their children back. We were able to show happiness and joy when the day came to reunite their family. Our foster children were able to see a good example of what it looked like when everyone was working as a team towards the same goal to reunify them back with their family.
Fostering children allowed us to see and love people the way our heavenly father does. He never promised us it would be easy, and we certainly have had many days where we were mentally and emotionally exhausted, however, the end result was always a sense of reward and accomplishment. Our children were able to see what it looked like to love a stranger and show them grace the way God does. Our children became a light when they would share their parents and their rooms with kids who were scared and confused.
I cannot think of a better way to experience the love of God than being with hurting people in their hardest times. I am very humbled in the way we have been able to change a family and even contribute to changes within our own communities. I feel change is rooted in love…not just in the emotion, but in the doing.
“Most people need Love and acceptance a lot more than they need advice”.
“I used to want to fix people but now I just want to be with them.” – Bob Goff
We want to thank Katie Ssejjemba for sharing this post.
Women's Ministry 