Pastor J - "Sunday morning, we presented Bibles to our Nursery Sunday school class and our 3rd grade class. That night, our team received the following picture and message on Facebook."

There are stories that should be told, Pastor J asked permission to share the picture and this adoptive mother's story. This was her response.  

I've lost count the number of times someone, so often a stranger will approach me and say "so you have a child with RAD(Reactive Attachment Disorder)", or you have a child with "shaken baby syndrome", or "You do foster care?" Then they will say, "I know someone who...." and then there is a conversation and when you part ways you realize that you were just "used" by God.

I have come to realize that having a public part of your life is there, will always be there and have slowly found an understanding that my story may help another and there is the balance of what "I" want and what needs to be.

My Rosie struggles with anxiety, fear, and worry so much for one so young. She is a sensitive soul and that often just makes things bigger. Someone once told me that she was the lucky one of the three because she never lived with her birth parents. When I heard those words I felt so unsettled in part because in an adoption there is always a family that is joyful, happy and there is always a family filled with sadness. You simply can't have one without the other. So few people see adoption in that light.

The other part of that unsettled feeling is simply that. That person didn't know Rosie's story. Her anxiety comes from not connecting with her birth family, most especially her birth mom. So she worries that we too will just disappear from her life.

For a little one with anxiety, sleep is an enemy and bedtime is always a battle. Always. As we walk this journey with Rosie, finding the help she needs and at times the help we need, she tests us always and teaches us in her truly unique way.

That photo is beautiful to any who glance at it. But to this momma the sight of her sleeping without a battle was an unexpected gift. When I noticed the bible tucked in her arms I simply sat down on the floor and watched her sleep letting the message that was so simple and so powerful soak in... When worry overtakes you calm it by holding God close...."

I had the occasion of working with Rosie on at a God's Work Our Hands day. I remember the young little girl who helped me paint that day. I had no idea of the challenges she lived with, just like we often don't know the hurts and gifts of people we encounter. As we prepare for Thanksgiving we remember those whose lives have been challenging and who carry hidden hurts.  God loves them for who they are and will not leave them there, like stubborn parents, teachers and friends who God has sent to walk with us. As we sit with family and friends and give thanks, may we remember those who God has used to incarnate the love of God for us.  

Let us remember and give thanks for the gift of the Bible, the Gospel we know through it and the truth that even when we are not able to hold God close, God is still holding onto you and me...seeking to bring to us the new life and expressing the healing love that we all need in our own ways after the damage and uncertainty of life has shaken us.  In the midst of challenges and blessings of all kinds may God's Resurrecting love we know in Jesus keep reminding us of God's undeserved and persistent love.