a loving home trumps the difficulties of providing it

Posted by Mike:

Well another year has passed and what a year it has been.  God continues to bless our family and guide us on an incredible journey.  This past year of life sure has been full, and today I get to sit back and reflect on all that has happened.

Next to me is my precious baby boy, asleep.  I am such a happy and proud dad to care for and raise three amazing kids.  I love the feeling of watching over, protecting, teaching, and sometimes disciplining a child.  I don’t really know if there is any preparation or training one could have to be a parent but it is awesome!

I also can’t help but reflect on the big news from baseball with the passing of Oscar Tavares.  He was way too young to die and he had such a bright future ahead of him.  The thing that caught my attention the most though was reading somewhere that Oscar and his girlfriend had a baby.  I can’t help but think about a little boy now who suddenly has no earthly parents.  I know the pain of losing a father but I also had the benefit and blessing of being grown when my dad passed away.  I had an incredible example to follow and still continue to feel dad’s guidance in life.  Is it easier to lose a father at such a young age?  I don’t know if anyone can really answer that.

The sad thing is that there are so many other kids out there right now who have lost parents to death, drugs, or abuse.  God laid a big burden on my heart for kids just like Oscar’s son, kids who in some way lost the right a family.  I was raised in an incredible family and have been blessed with my own family to raise but to me that’s not good enough anymore.  Kids are out there all around us because of tragedy and they deserve the right to a father and a mother who love them, who will teach them, who will discipline them, who will show them the love of Christ.

I am grateful for every family member out there who has taken into his or her home a young relative.  For some it may be easy to incorporate them straight into the family and for others it is a huge challenge.  Unfortunately there are many out there who don’t have that opportunity, to be with family.  I know this journey God has placed before us won’t be easy but for me the right to a loving home trumps the difficulties of providing it. 

I jokingly started growing a beard several weeks ago and said I won’t shave it off until we purchase the land to build Hope House.  It was something fun when I started it and it’s fun to tease my wife about the beard since she hates it so much.  Something happened shortly after I started letting it grow.  The beard became a reminder of the kids that need a home.  It is a physical daily reminder for me to not stop working on opening the doors for Hope House.  I know it sounds cheesy but every day when it itches a little or sweat drips down it I know that we are one step closer to providing a life that these kids deserve and it makes me want to work harder and prepare more for the opportunity to invest in these little lives.

I am thankful to celebrate another year of life but I reflect on a life taken too soon.  I reflect on the lives of those who right now are losing their right to a family and the potential peace that God can bring them with a new family at Hope House.