Wherever you are...

Wherever you are... You're on my mind... Last night your uncles and your dad and I went to see the holiday train... I looked around at the crowd and wondered if you were there. I watched the lights on the train cars and I cried for you. Your dad knew. We pray for you, where ever you are. We are praying that you are warm and safe and happy this Christmas. That you are with a family who will take care of you well until we are able to love you and care for you like you deserve. In Sunday school this morning your grandma was holding your little cousin and I thought of you. I wonder, will you be the kind of child that loves your grandparents so dearly? I hope so! They are wonderful people, the ones here who live close and the ones far away. They will all spoil you. They will buy you books and candy, play games with you, read you stories, give you all the love and hugs you can want... Wherever you are my darling, know you are so loved. You are prayed for every day. As I put out the nativity scenes this year I thought of you and I want you to know that I am so excited about telling you the story! I can't wait to help you learn to know the baby in the story. He grew up and He gave His life so that we would know how to love you.  I am so happy that I can tell you about that love. Wherever you are, whatever your life is like now, whether you will be here with us for only a short time or whether you will be with us forever and always, you need to know that we love you. We love you now, we will love you then, and we will love you after you are gone again from this house, be that as an adult or be that as a child gone back to another mother. So wherever you are, please hold on to hope. Please don't give up on us. We are getting to you as fast as we can! 

You give...

I'm writing a paper right now. The goal of the paper is to determine whether or not the Mennonite church as a whole truly lives out what Jesus taught. I have not come to any conclusions yet (I am still researching and not writing yet) but here is something I did find. 

When Jesus was on the mountain teaching those thousands of people for days on end, they naturally got hungry (we all know the story). The disciples did what I imagine any good Christian would do, they became concerned with how the people would be fed. They suggested sending them home. They looked at the crowds and became overwhelmed with the sheer magnitude of the problem. Much, I imagine, like I do when I look at the foster system in our country. Jesus's reply to the disciples on this matter is something I've never seen before now. He said to them 

"They need not go away, you give them something to eat."

YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT. 

THEY NEED NOT GO AWAY.

The disciples, because of Jesus, had the answer. They had the sustenance. They had what the people needed. They just had to be willing to give it. 

We have the Answer. The Answer is Jesus. Nothing to big, nothing to frightful, nothing to far out of your comfort zone. They don't need to go anywhere else. You have what they need. Give it to them.