Into the Heart of Hollands

"Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way you expect." This was posted today on Facebook and it really hit me fast. We're so often focused on keeping up with the Jones her in the U.S. aren't we? "What will people think of me, our family if we don't..." Well, so what? What if my family doesn't look the way I expected? What if we do end up with children with physical, emotional or developmental delays that are obvious to the world? So what if we don't look like the family from Father Knows Best or Happy Days?? If God calls us to a sibling group with some "issues" who are we to tell Him that it doesn't fit into our plans? Our pastor preached Sunday from Acts 8 how Phillip was so overcome with the Spirit that he walked away from his ministry of a lot of the "obvious" kind of people and onto the long road to Ethiopia. No questions asked. No "Why should I leave the good thing I've got", "Why should I go there?" or even "Why not take the easy road?". He just went out and ran into a man who had left his country to come to Jerusalem to hear about Jesus' ministry. This man had many questions about the scrolls he was reading and Phillip was able to answer these questions because he answered the call without hesitation. I am SO not comparing ourselves to Phillip other than saying that we need to be open to God's calling for our family. What if we DO get a sibling group who aren't as sweet, cuddly and obedient as our AMAZING girls? *sigh* At what point do we set aside what we want or society expects to serve a group who is in need of a loving, structured and Godly home? Obviously we do not want to do anything that would not be the best for our two girls. And yet....what if long term blessings do not now look like what we expect they should?