When it comes to writing, some people say "stay in your lane" - specialize on a few topics; do a few things well. Others say diversify - write a lot on a variety of topics; keep things fresh and different. With over 90% of my blog posts in 2014 being foster care, adoption and orphan care related, I've chosen to stay in my lane this year.
I am by no means an expert on these topics and am in no way "specialized". I have found, however, there are conversations to be had regarding how the Gospel informs our care of the marginalized, neglected and orphaned and how we, the Church, can most effectively steward the mandate of God to intercede on their behalf. I'm happy to be a small part of many of these large conversations, and I'm hopeful this blog site is an encouraging, thought-provoking, challenging and refreshing resource for many who are involved or are considering getting involved in these hard, beautiful, life-wrecking and heart-changing matters. In the end, I pray what you read on this site causes you to celebrate the Gospel of your own rescue in Jesus more deeply and consider how you, on some level and in some way, can demonstrate that Gospel more widely into the lives of vulnerable kids around you.
Here's a quick glance at the top three posts of 2014. You'll notice a theme - foster care - but what you won't see are the numbers behind these titles. These three posts represent around 1/3 of the page views, shares, likes, comments, retweets and reposts of the nearly 35 posts I wrote this past year. Of the nearly 1,000,000 visits to the site, these three received approximately 325,000 visitors. I've linked to them below in case you missed them.
Thank you for reading and sharing this year. I'm honored to be in this with you and am looking forward to 2015!
1
My greatest fear, like so many others who are considering venturing down the beautiful yet tumultuous path of foster care, was not whether or not I could love a child that was not my own but whether or not I could handle letting a child go that I have grown to love as my own. I couldn't get beyond this concern, and couldn't move forward because of it.
2
It was never God's intent for children to be without a family. The government is not in the family restoring and family building business. The Church is. Kids in foster care are not the state's kids, they are God's kids and therefore as the Church they are our kids too. Our responsibility. Our burden. Our mission. Our job. Not the government's.
3
Not everyone is called to be a foster parent. As a matter of fact, most people in the Church won't ever bring a child into their home for any extended period of time. But this does not mean they, and the Church as a whole, don't have an essential and necessary role to play in the lives of these foster families and the children they are giving their lives over to.
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