Crazy Love

Just finished this very intriguing book by Francis Chan.

I've been outside of my comfort zone so long that I've been spending too much time recently missing my safety "bubble". No more! My life is far too comfortable and not radical enough.

Ana and I sold our house and quit our jobs so we could commit our resources and time to meeting the needs of hurting kids in the foster care system. Our finances and ourselves got pretty used up and beat up along the way. We've done what we could but so far haven't been doing it long enough (only eight years) to even have any success stories. Most of the kids have moved on and we will never know the rest of their stories. We've given our lives to caring for and loving kids who often hate us or steal and destroy our stuff in return.

When we began to feel resentful that our stuff was getting ruined we sold it or gave it away so that we would not be tempted to love stuff and comfort more than the kids. We needed the cars so we couldn't get rid of those but now we view them as "just stuff" too, tools to be used to help others. The intentional scratches, dents, and dings inflicted by the kids on my once-nice car bear witness to the troubled, angry kids that God has allowed us to care for. When we heard through our church that a recently widowed young woman with six children had lost her van we were able to give her one of ours....because it wasn't really ours any more anyway. We gave it over to God for his use and purposes as we did with all of our remaining belongings.

I like to take charge and be in control of my surroundings and Ana loves peace and hates conflict. How did we end up living lives of such constant conflict with situations over which we have no control? And to be honest, most days it doesn't feel like we're all that great at it. Nothing showed me more vividly what a wretched person I can be than having to live with and love people who are hateful, mean, destructive, and often give nothing back at all. It was so easy to love those in my "bubble" who loved me back (or at least pretended to). The "bubble" was such a nice place to live, work, and play. If not for the love of God and the desire to do what he commands, I'd be there still. I once visited a church that had a sign over the door going out into the world that read "You Are Now Entering Your Mission Field". I need that same sign over the door going into my home.

Crazy stuff. But not crazy enough to match the amazing, overwhelming, radical love of Jesus. What else can I do or give up so that my kids will know how crazy God is about them? How can I reach more kids? How can we help families who have taken in these hurting kids and had their lives turned upside down because of it?

I can't wait to find out.