God Does Not Call The Qualified – He Qualifies The Called

Hebrews 13:21    “… may He equip you with all good things for doing His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His Sight…”

You’ve been reading and studying the need for foster and adoptive families to care for Florida’s most vulnerable children – the abused, neglected and abandoned.  And you think perhaps your family can help.  But you’re scared!  How can you help when you have no experience with traumatized children or with trauma-based care parenting?  After all, you aren’t child welfare professionals!

So often when conducting our orientations and information sessions I hear these responses to a call-to-action.  Folks are afraid of this journey and skeptical about their ability to make the right choices and do the right thing for the little ones placed in their care. Oh ye of little faith, one might say.  If God has called you to it, he will pull you through it!

Here is the response I give them:  If you are here because you feel called to do God’s bidding, because your heart is filled with the need to help, to make a difference, to bloom where you are planted and to change lives; then you will be guided. You will be given “the tools” you need. For as believers of faith, we know that God rarely calls the qualified – but he does qualify the called.

As Hebrews 13:21 tells us, God will equip us with all we need to do His will and the works that will please Him.  Certainly caring for these “orphans” fits the bill.  For we are called to love them, even to love all others as we are loved by Him.  I believe whole heartedly that God calls those to this mission that He needs to do this work.  And while the path may still not be easy, when you trust Him you will be guided and lifted to the task.

When I first began the process to become a foster parent in the early 1990s after a traumatic experience with a brain tumor that had to be surgically removed, I felt called to do something meaningful with this new found life God had gifted me.  I truly felt His call to care for foster children. Yet I was paralyzed with fear; however, after much prayer and reflection, my response was, “Here I am Lord, send me!”

Along the way, my journey had many trials and tribulations, yet today I would not trade a single minute of it, for the blessings have far outweighed the pain.  Those blessings continue today in my relationships with my children and grandchildren, my greatest gifts!

The life of foster and adoptive parents is not easy – if it were, then perhaps all too often the wrong people would be interested in it. It is a life of love, of caring and of following our beliefs. You will not just change the lives of the children you serve but also their families. What is so often surprising to our foster/adoptive families – you will most definitely be changing your own lives – always!

So as you contemplate the prospect of taking the journey to fostering and/or adopting – remember that you are being asked to help rescue others, to love as you are loved and to be part of delivering a message of hope to those who so often feel hopeless.  Will your answer be, “Here I am Lord, send me!”?  God Bless you all – today and always!

By Rosey Moreno-Jones