When The Story Changes You | Graham's Words

If I had a goal for my writing, it?d probably be something like this: ?To take ideas/concepts like faith, grace, forgiveness, and give readers a story to see how they can play out in individual lives.?

But that?s only part of it. I write for an audience, but also because I feel called to, because I feel like God is trying to teach me something in the process that is going to be more valuable to me than anything that?s ultimately put down on paper.

Sometimes, it just takes a while to see it.

Hero?s Tribute and Legacy Road both deal with similar themes ? grace and forgiveness in broken families. We all witness the need in our neighborhoods, communities and even our own families. The pain can sometimes be tremendous, and I became very aware of this while my wife was a social worker. She worked in both foster care and adoption sectors, so I had a first-hand account of the damage that these fractured relationships did to children, and the endless cycle it created. Consider the following:

• 50 percent of those in prison right now were in the foster care system (in some states it?s higher)
• About 1 in 8 children are displaced from their birth parents in some capacity
• There are children who will have lived with five different families, had 5 different mothers, by the age of 7. And that doesn?t consider if they end up in a group home.

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In the last year, God?s been working on my heart, my insecurities and inaction. I prayed the prayer for what broke Jesus? heart, to break mine, and it?s brought me to my knees, both the overwhelming need for his grace, hope and mercy in this world, and my utter failure to respond as His Hands and Feet. The last few months especially have been eye opening as Katie and I have watched a calling take shape and wondered what it will mean for our marriage and family.

This past weekend we completed the first half of foster parent training. This next weekend we?ll complete the last, followed by a home study, screening and then ultimately placement.

My hope is to spend some more time on this blog writing about our decision, and the wonderful things that have happened in the last few months leading up to this. We?re basically at the starting point of the process, and we?ll try to chronicle it as best we can, and be as transparent as we can (and you?ll probably see how fluid the process is).

We?ve already met some amazing people doing amazing work for orphans, both here and overseas. We?ve witnessed other families (including family members) take huge leaps of faith and been inspired by them. And we?ve seen the need to both participate in this mission, and to be advocates for it. You need to hear about these children because they are your neighbors?, friends? and co-workers? children. They?re the classmates of your children. They?re families who need healing, who need all of Christ?s love and none of our judgment.

This is their story.

The following is a link to the organization we?re partnering with, FaithBridges.

http://www.faithbridgefostercare.org/

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Source: http://grahamgarrisonwords.com/2012/08/20/when-the-story-changes-you/

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