Saturday, July 10, 2010

Determination

Have you ever just assumed you weren't eligible for something, crossed it off your list? I know that I do it. I'm too young, weak, busy, clumsy, single, etc...

I was helping with a program to aid local Christian families in becoming foster parents. I didn't have professional training and my Russian wasn't great for dealing with bureaucrats, but I could offer some encouragement and help with spreading the word.

A single woman at a local church was interested in finding out more and going through our training program. I took a packet of information, and prepared to meet with her.

When we met up at her workplace, I was surprised to see that she was about my age...just a working single girl, trying to make ends meet like everybody else.
read more/-

I had met so many people who "wanted" to help but were struggling financially; living in cramped quarters; unsure of themselves...or, who simply weren't winning favor with officials, for whatever reason.

At the same time, the orphans had their own disadvantages that created obstacles: connections to relatives who didn't want them to be adopted; behavior problems; emotional scarring...

You start to limit the possibilities...but here was someone who wanted to give it a try. And little by little, she got to know a group of siblings from the orphanage...took them out on weekends; to her house for visits; had many occasions for bonding. All very quiet and unassuming, until you look and see that all these little steps have added up to something incredible.

I do think that there is a feeling of "that's not my thing" that comes from the Lord. We can recognize where we are not gifted; where it does not seem God is leading. But other obstacles are just temporary; difficult to move by human strength, but having potential in the supernatural.

1 comment:

  1. This rings a bell with me - virtually everything I have done in life has been something I once thought I couldn't do. Sometimes God dumps opportunities in our laps that seem totally incompatible with our natural abilities, but, like Moses, God gives us all the abilities we need.

    ReplyDelete

Just added word verification to reduce spam. Nothing personal!

You’re welcome to leave a link to your own blog here if it's relevant to this blog.

Please make sure that your comments are 1) relevant and 2) respectful (i.e. no cuss words, attacks on individuals).

Voices

 In the past month, it has been interesting to read the published thoughts of Russian friends as they've gotten their voice back upon es...