If you follow me on IG, you know that we have had some big changes in our family this week. Last Saturday, we received a phone call from our case worker from our foster care service for an 18 year old girl. Last Monday we met her, and by Friday she was in our home, and she will be for the foreseeable future.

Of course with foster care there isn’t much we can share about her for privacy reasons. But she is now a part of our family. So for now I will call her “S.” It makes me feel like I’m on Gossip Girl when I call her that, and does that make me happy! If only my first name began with a “B.” 😉

Let me back up and share with you a little bit of the reason that we chose to take S. Most of you know that when we initially signed up to be foster parents that we would only take children our children’s ages or younger, for safety reasons. Teenagers were the last thing on our list and we had honestly completely written teenagers off. But we also have been praying through this process over the past year that we would keep our hearts open to whoever He wanted us to have in our home. And we got our whoever call last week. And here’s why we’ve said “yes.”

S is expecting.

Now how crazy is it that the first person that our case worker called was also expecting? In fact, we were OFF the call list because I had been so sick during my first trimester. And last week was the glorious week that I stopped throwing up everyday. Our case worker didn’t even know that I was pregnant when she called and asked if we would consider taking her. Who better to take in this sweet girl than someone who is in the same moment of motherhood? And isn’t it crazy that the things this young mom-to-be needs to learn are some of mine and Eric’s gifts? Cooking, cleaning, organizing, parenting, budgeting, finances….it all added up for us to say “yes.” And almost with out hesitation we did.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not all roses and sunshine. I’m terrified out of my mind. People have questioned our decision to take S. I have never parented an 18 year old before nor have I worked through the issues of a teen who has been in the system for years; it is going to be no easy task. And how in the world am I going to be able to help S AND take care of my own kids and husband at the same time? I’ve had to have hard, uncomfortable conversations the past 3 days that I never thought I would have to have. I have absolutely no idea how this is going to work.

But.

Christ.

Christ in us is going to be the key. Jesus taking moments that are going to be uncomfortable and stretching and turning them into something beautiful and glorifying to Him is what He is going to do. Showing love and compassion when my soul wants to be harsh and angry is what He will equip us with. And taking this messy, hard situation and using it to show our children what the reality of the mercy of Jesus looks like will be a lesson that they never will be able to learn if S wasn’t here. There will be beauty from these ashes friends. Even if we can’t see it right away.

And we need your help, too. So please. Please pray with us. Pray for us. Pray for S. Pray for our families and friends, as they are adjusting and walking on this journey with us, too. But most of all pray for Jesus to be seen and encountered. Because only He changes everything.