BY FAITH

One of my heroes in the faith is George Müller. He lived in the 1800s and cared for 10,024 orphans in his lifetime by means of the “faith principle,” which meant he would pray to God and never directly ask another person for money.

Nor did he ever borrow money for anything. He was renowned for great faith in our Lord and peaceful trust in God’s provision, even when a deadline loomed and food was short.

The Lord has shown our family His unending faithfulness. This doesn’t mean that there have not been difficult seasons – we’ve journeyed through many and are in one currently. It means that no matter what happens today, we have decided to trust in the Lord with all our heart. We have decided to endure, to persevere, to keep moving forward in faith. We know nothing and no one can thwart His plans to glorify His Name and use our circumstances to sanctify us to be more like Him.

When we said “yes” to adopt our daughter in 2018, the Lord had to make a way where there was not a way. We did not have the additional $20,000 to pay the adoption attorney, nor did we have any of the travel expenses needed to live across the country for several weeks, all within a 48-hour deadline.

Yet, God had grown our faith in Him through the cancer season, through our infertility and miscarriages. God’s faithfulness in those seasons had grown our faith and prepared us for the next “by faith” decision – saying “yes” to adopt when we did not have the funds. But we had Christ’s peace with the unknowns – we knew this was easy for God to do, for nothing is impossible for Him.

So, we prayed, we had faith, and God glorified His Name. We adopted Bella and have had the absolute privilege of being her daddy and mommy!

Then came the text from an unknown number earlier this year. “Corey! … a family of five kids has been immediately taken out of the home due to neglect… We have children of our own and just don’t know if fostering is for us at this time. Is there any way you can?”

Some questions can be so weighty. This was an unplanned fork in the road for our family. I shared the text with my wife – instant yes. Maybe a millisecond of time elapsed from me sharing the text and her reply. Honestly, I was more like Moses as he stared at the burning bush. I knew my answer was yes too. I knew that was God’s plan. But I still felt the need to ask the Lord my questions.

Seven weeks after receiving that text, we became foster parents to one of the siblings, a five-year-old girl.

For a young child twice removed from her home who has endured much trauma, we have encountered many challenges, from daily behavior outbursts to developmental delays to spiritual attack.

However, whether it’s for a season or a lifetime, we want to meet her every need, provide her a safe place to grow and thrive, and ultimately shine the light of the gospel into the darkness of her life. By faith, we pray for our foster child’s salvation. And through our faith in Christ, we are gracious with one another (some days extra gracious), quick to forgive, and choose to love each other as Christ first loved us.