Superhero
I love watching super hero movies. From Spiderman to Superman to Captain America, there is just something so awesome about watching the good guy swoop in with super-human strength to save all the innocent people from the evil that torments them. I also love real life heroes, especially people I like to call super Christians. You probably know the type or maybe you even are one. In the Bible, we see lots of awesome examples---Moses, Esther, David... it is full of stories of great men and women gifted by God in incredible ways to fight the evil around them.
There are still super Christians around today being used by God to do amazing things. I know an entire family of them. The dad is this amazing pastor and professor who uses his powers of theological study to inspire the next generation of missionaries and evangelists. He travels the world sharing the Gospel and still finds time to love his wife and family, and even teaches his children Hebrew and Greek. His wife is equally amazing. The epitome of the Proverbs 31 woman faithfully serving her husband and family with joy and excellence, she cheerfully raises their adorable children, makes healthy gourmet meals, runs marathons for fun, and just about every project she attempts turns into a Pinterest-worthy masterpiece. She diligently studies the Word and puts it into practice by loving and serving everyone around her. Oh, and they are also both super humble, friendly, and approachable, and of course credit all they accomplish to God.
So when they decided to pursue foster parenting in the hopes of adopting a child, it was no surprise to me or anyone else. Of course this super couple would be capable of rescuing a child left helpless and alone in a world broken by sin. It would be hugely difficult, but surely they could do it. And they did. They trusted God every step of the way, and He grafted that child right into their family and it was beautiful and inspiring to watch. I bet I was not the only one sitting back in the audience of their lives thinking their story was so amazing, so wonderful, but so unattainable for someone less super.
But the truth of the matter is that God calls us all to super things not because we are super, but because He is. He called Moses, a self-confessed terrible speaker, to be His mouthpiece and lead a nation. He called Esther, an orphan girl in a world ruled by men, to change the heart of a king. He called David as a puny little boy, to have huge faith and slay a giant in His name. And He calls every Christian to let Him use our ordinary lives for super things.
Another super family we know had been used by God to adopt two little girls through foster care and had decided to lead a class for prospective foster parents at our church. While inviting the congregation to the class, the father of that family planted a seed in my heart with one simple phrase: Why not you? There are many ways to live out your faith, and I recognize that fostering to adopt is not God’s plan for every family. But after a lot of prayer, we discovered it was His plan for ours.
We are not super like I thought of those other families. Though we love God and strive to glorify Him with our lives, we don’t have a perfect home or family. But kids who have no parents don’t need a perfect family---they need a perfect God and a family who loves Him. They need us to adopt them just as God adopted us. They need parents who will prayerfully raise them, walk with them through the traumas and injustices they did not deserve, and point them toward our loving God who will never abandon them.
But we had real concerns about fostering to adopt, especially when it came to the impact it might have on our two very young kids. We knew that children who had experienced trauma were likely to have emotional and behavioral problems. What if the child we fostered created chaos in our family? What if our kids loved that foster child as a brother or sister only to have them one day taken away with no warning? How could we explain to a 7 and 2-year-old why a child was without parents in the first place? Would my husband and I be able to play Mommy and Daddy for a child knowing they might not be ours permanently? Certainly we were not super enough to take this on, but still God called us to follow Him, so we did.
Nothing about the fostering to adopt process was easy for us. Nothing ever turned out as we expected. But one thing turned out way better. By obediently following God and faithfully trusting Him each step of the way, our family drew closer together and closer to Him. When the process dragged on and on, God taught us patience and submission. When our lack of control got frustrating, God reminded us of His sovereignty. When we struggled with how to be the Mommy and Daddy our foster child needed while protecting ourselves from potential heartbreak, God gave us the compassion to love her with reckless abandon. When we feared we might lose our new daughter, God comforted us and gave us peace. When we had to explain hard truths to our kids, God gave us wisdom. When things got too much for us to handle alone, God sent us helpers. When we were overwhelmed by the awfulness and cruelty of humanity, God overwhelmed us with joy and hope and love for His miracle living right in our home. God had saved her life for a purpose. God had chosen us as her family for a purpose. God was using us to do something super.
None of us are super on our own. If we wait to become capable or worthy before we allow God to work through us to do what only He can anyway, we will waste our lives sitting in the audience applauding the faithful who are super only because they have obediently submitted to God’s will and believe that He is all the strength they need to do the hard things we all ought to be doing. We will miss the opportunity to experience what it is like to be Moses or David or Esther and the blessings that God has in store for us. Do you trust that His perfection makes anything possible for you and your imperfect family? What super thing does God want to do through you for His glory?
Beth Walker serves at a multi-ethnic church in Houston, Texas as a worship leader, teacher, and missionary. She is a mother of three with a passion for family discipleship, family worship, and family missions.
