van-borrowing

We need a bus. I mean, really. I'm not sure we could get one, but we need it, and last night we sat and rejoiced over that fact. This Saturday, we are taking a passel of kids to the Aquarium, and as we figured numbers, we realized we were going to be cutting it close on car space. So we are borrowing a van from Leah's church. When she got off the phone after setting it up, we all sort of smiled at each other silently for a second, then laughed and said, "What the heck? We are borrowing a church van. How did we get here?" Leah and I recalled our first days moving in, almost four years ago now, when we had no idea what we were doing and whether or not it would "work" (or what that even meant). We recalled days of play time with 3 or 4 kids at a time, outings to that required a max of two cars. And here we are, borrowing a van from a church...and we will still need two cars. Most of the kids aren't even from the park...they make their way to our homes every week because we are a family. Praise God. Praise God!

We are in the midst of a time that is both incredibly challenging and really exciting (the two often coincide, no?). One our greatest struggles has simply been to "keep the peace". There is an incredible amount of drama and fighting among the teenagers. Parents get involved in some of the conflicts, coming to tell us about it, with the assumption that it is ours to take care of. This is both awkward and a bit stressful. As well, conflict between a particular teen and one of our younger kids brought about an incredibly dangerous incident, when the young one brought in his adult-and-yet-child older brother to take care of a situation that he had blown out of proportion (almost fabricated, really). We do our best. I mean, there is literally a household rule that if we catch someone being consistently unkind, they will be asked to leave. We explain to them that this is because we want our homes to be a safe place, a sanctuary of kindness for everyone who comes in, and that we will protect that family atmosphere. Yet these boundaries are difficult to make cut-and-dried. In the end, we just need prayer. A lot of it. Pray for peace, and for God to show us how to be peacemakers.

Ok, but the good stuff! First of all, thanks to a new friend helping on Thursdays, we got a few of the kids connected with sports camps at a local church. There, they played, spent time in a healthy environment, and heard about God's love for them. They loved camp! At the final awards ceremony, we had the great joy of watching most of them respond to a call to follow Jesus. Honestly, this caught me (and I think others) by surprise. People always ask us if we are leading Bible studies, or if people are coming to know Jesus left and right, and that has simply never been the case. We are there to be a steady and loving presence in the day-to-day of life, and to involve them in opportunities to connect with churches and such in ways that come naturally. But of course, we have always dreamed that those whom we love in the realities of their lives will see and desire the love of God. It was a beautiful moment for us. Then last night, we got a call from the youth minister at Leah's church to let us know that another of our kids had shown a similar response at the VBS she was attending. He just wanted us to know, so that we can follow up. So beautiful.

As I said, forcing our way into Bible studies and such has never been the plan. Having that kind of set agenda can do much to damage the genuiness of relationship. Still, we have none the less wished for the day when it would come, in the Father's time and not by force. As we talked last night, we realized that the day is upon us. Pray for us to know how to move forward, how to follow through. It is an exciting time, but requires some adjusting.

Pray for peace, and praise our kind and faithful Father. Four years ago he called us to uproot and relocate into a sketchy trailer park. Many Thursdays (and every-other-days) later, we could legitimately use a small bus for a simple Saturday outing.

Praise God.