The Heart of a Father

One of the rewards of being a foster parent is getting a front row view of God at work. When you first take on a case most often its a mess. The kids are a mess, the parents are a mess, the system is a mess. It seem hopeless. Little by little though you begin to see God at work. You see him working in your own life as you following Him in obedience to care for the fatherless. You see him at work in the lives of the kids as you see their whole countenance chance. You see them begin to smile and laugh and let their guard down and trust. And on some occasions you get to see God at work in the lives of the birth parents. Tonight we invited Queenie and Little Miss' dad over for dinner. Everything went great! We played outside with the girls and enjoyed the nice weather, we had good conversation over our meal, we talked about the girls and baby brother and the funny things they do, we talked about an upcoming DCFS meeting and how dad was feeling about it. We even had the opportunity to pray together about the meeting and to pray healing over this precious family. I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit throughout the evening and felt such peace. As time goes on I watch the girls and how they respond to their dad. I see how they get excited to see him and run to him, how they now have little inside jokes with him, how they look at him with a smile on their face and how they are begining to trust him more and more. I see that he is falling more in love with these precious girls everday and that he is trying so hard to be the best dad in the world for them. I see God at work resoring these relationships. Tonight Malachi 4:6 popped into my mind and I know it was from the Lord "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers;..." God is at work here! Not only is he turning this father towards his children but he is turning these children towards their father. God thank you for the beautiful thing you are you doing! Thank you for the front row seat of YOU at work!!!