Monday, March 23, 2015

A Perfectly Imperfect Family

OK, it's been a week or so since I've written. I could give you the excuses as to why, but they really aren't that exciting, and I'm convinced that I'll be back on the wagon again soon. Which is what I believe every time I stop writing, so I should probably quit fooling myself.

Anyway, it's much more exciting to give you the motivation as to why I've decided to write today...

Check out this family:
















These are the Weidemanns. I don't know if they look like anything special to you, but I'm telling you, these guys are really amazing! As you might be able to pick up from this picture, they're a great bunch of folks who love to laugh and see the joy of life. While they're all wildly different, they stick together and love one another through all kinds of ups and downs. But that's not what really amazing about them.

Here's the thing: For most of us, family is a haven away from the rest of the world. We live in a culture that tends to either idolize family, "focusing" on family to the exclusion of the rest of the world, or to denigrate family, rejecting and ignoring some of our most important earthly relationships. Both extremes are wrong. Rarely, however, do we see families operating the way God intended--please don't hear me say "perfect," but the way that God intended--seeing their home and their relationships as a vehicle through which they can be a blessing in the world. I'm quite sure these guys aren't perfect, but they recognize what they've been given as a family, and they do everything they can do to give it away to those who desperately need it.

So here's the story, in Sharon Weidemann's own words:
As many of you know, our family has a passion for adoption and giving special children a home an love. Fred and I were contacted last week by a friend who was trying to help her friend who had just had a baby. This brave momma know she could not keep her baby and had met with an agency and chosen a family to adopt her baby. The baby was born. However, her baby was not "perfect" and the family backed out, leaving this mom in a really tough place. Fred and I talked and we reached out to this mom. She is bravely taking this baby home until adoption details can be worked out. She has a strong desire to have a choice in where her baby is going and that her baby is in a good home and loved well.
Amen. Just as we'd all want for our own kids.

There are already five kids living in Fred and Sharon's house, working to survive on a single income. The idea of tackling a tradition adoption is high on the impossibility scale for a family like this--the costs are just too high. However, Arella is the kind of child that Fred and Sharon have given a home to in the past, and they long to continue to do so. Why? Because they recognize that they have been blessed by God, and that the blessing they've been given isn't for them alone, but it's for other who may never get to experience that same blessing. So they are stepping out in faith and seeking to adopt this precious child.

My wife and I have given toward this adoption. We believe in this family and the love that they have for the world around them. Can I encourage you to consider doing the same thing? Whether a few bucks or a bunch of them, we can all work together to give this child a home to be raised in, godly parents who will point to Jesus, a bunch of loving siblings, and every opportunity that may never be possible otherwise.

Even if you're not able to give, I hope that you'll be encourage to consider, as I have: What have you and I been given that God is intending for us to give away to the world around us? I love seeing a family that recognizes that they themselves are a gift that God can and will use to impact the world--one "perfectly imperfect" child at a time.

If you want to support Fred and Sharon's adoption costs, click HERE to donate!


No comments: