In May I was able to attend the Christian Alliance for the Orphan summit in Orlando, Florida. It was the only think I wanted for my birthday and I got to go! People. Go if you can. There was so much I learned and experienced in regard to the care and keeping of children, but also the care and keeping of me. I, like many of you, am a busy, working mom and often feel completely emptied out by the demands of my day. I wondered if God would give me a new assignment or call to do something, after experiencing the summit. I was a bit worried. (So was my husband!)
Because God is the truest keeper and lover of our souls, and knows my soul inside and out, instead He called me to this: Be kind to myself. Rest. Do life and take care of your people while God puts more oil in my jar………how great is that! He promises us in His Word that, like Elijah and the widow in 2 kings, the jars of oil will not run dry when we line ourselves up with Him.
I attended a workshop by Curt Thompson, the author of The Anatomy of The Soul. He spoke about a term called interpersonal neurobiology. It sounds fancy, and it is a new concept, at least to me, but here is the jist of it. Interpersonal neurobiology means that it is important to be known by someone else. Our felt sense of being known by God is directly related to how we feel we are known by other humans. Evil does not want this to happen. That is one of the reasons adoption, foster care and orphan care are so, so hard. In order for fatherless children to be known by the one true Father, they must be able to feel known by other humans. Now that…….is a calling.
Our challenge, in part, is to create environments for children to be known by us. That can be done in big and small ways. It includes travelling to orphanages to dance and play with children in Jesus name. It includes helping and praying and loving those on the journey to adopt a child. It includes hearing the cries of children in need………and even in our homes on the best of days and the worst of days it includes creating an environment for our children to be known by us. All 5 of my children deserve my focused attention to hear a funny story about a moment in their day, or to watch another silly you tube video that they just love, or countless other ways. Big and small ways.
I want to start my day today over again because I have already missed a lot of opportunities to have my children be known to me, and it is only 10am. I’ll start with the teenager who just stumbled out of bed and is snarfing down a bowl of cereal, listening to me type away on this keyboard. Where will you start?
