By Mike Glenn Like most states, the children of Tennessee are in crisis. Issues of adolescent mental health, suicides, and accidental fentanyl overdoses plague every county of our great state. Recently, a video that showed children in the care of the Department of Children’s Services sleeping on the floor of their regional offices set off quite a stir. Children in the care of DCS suddenly had everyone’s attention.
To me, this is how we fight the “culture wars.” Not by passing laws or speaking out against things that are wrong in the world, but by being light, showing people what Christian living looks like and the fruit that comes from it. It involves personal sacrifice; there is a cost to following Jesus, but the treasure we find is beyond price.
Andy Stanley's church has developed a model worth looking at. So has Irving Bible Church where the late Karyn Purvis collaborated to develop Empowered to Connect. My own church is sponsoring an Empowered to Connect conference. Those who adopt and step into foster care need our support. Provision of a respite place. Training for developmental trauma. Thanks for speaking to this.
My wife and I adopted children after our two birth children were grown and had left us with an empty nest. Through a series of events we decided to become adoptive parents at fifty years-old. When we shared with our church family that we had decided to adopt three comments were common: Have you lost your mind? They will break your heart. And, what are you trying to prove? When we made the decision to adopt it was done with much prayer and soul searching. We were confident that we were simply being obedient to the word of the Lord we had heard.
We adopted a 14 year-old girl, and here nine year-old brother. It was a chellenge from day one. We have gone through much with our children: drug addiction, wilderness camp, incarceration, broken marriages, caring for two of our grandchildren for seven years. I am thankful to report that after all this our children are drug free, they are becoming good parents, they have great relationships with our birth children, and they are an intergral part of our extended family. Thanks be to God. As I write this I am well aware that so many other adoption stories are much darker than ours. In some of our darkest days people would ask us if we regretted adoption. The answer is, always has been, and always will be a resounding NO. The trials, tribulations, challenges, and even suffering we have gone through have been hard but the grace and joy we have expererienced has been more than we could have ever imagined, Indeed, as Jemes says, "We count it all joy."
To me, this is how we fight the “culture wars.” Not by passing laws or speaking out against things that are wrong in the world, but by being light, showing people what Christian living looks like and the fruit that comes from it. It involves personal sacrifice; there is a cost to following Jesus, but the treasure we find is beyond price.
Andy Stanley's church has developed a model worth looking at. So has Irving Bible Church where the late Karyn Purvis collaborated to develop Empowered to Connect. My own church is sponsoring an Empowered to Connect conference. Those who adopt and step into foster care need our support. Provision of a respite place. Training for developmental trauma. Thanks for speaking to this.
My wife and I adopted children after our two birth children were grown and had left us with an empty nest. Through a series of events we decided to become adoptive parents at fifty years-old. When we shared with our church family that we had decided to adopt three comments were common: Have you lost your mind? They will break your heart. And, what are you trying to prove? When we made the decision to adopt it was done with much prayer and soul searching. We were confident that we were simply being obedient to the word of the Lord we had heard.
We adopted a 14 year-old girl, and here nine year-old brother. It was a chellenge from day one. We have gone through much with our children: drug addiction, wilderness camp, incarceration, broken marriages, caring for two of our grandchildren for seven years. I am thankful to report that after all this our children are drug free, they are becoming good parents, they have great relationships with our birth children, and they are an intergral part of our extended family. Thanks be to God. As I write this I am well aware that so many other adoption stories are much darker than ours. In some of our darkest days people would ask us if we regretted adoption. The answer is, always has been, and always will be a resounding NO. The trials, tribulations, challenges, and even suffering we have gone through have been hard but the grace and joy we have expererienced has been more than we could have ever imagined, Indeed, as Jemes says, "We count it all joy."
Yes!!!
Absolutely amen
Amen and amen!