"Go For It" People!

Are there enough "Go For It" people out there? I was wondering this as I sat amongst a crowd of over 1200 people at New Life Church on Saturday - 11/22/08 ¹. The Wait No More event put on by Focus on the Family and New Life was very powerful. Some of the speakers included Jim Daly - President and CEO of Focus on the Family, Brady Boyd - Senior Pastor of New Life Church, and Dr. Sharen Ford - Manager of Permanency Services for the Colorado Department of Human Services Division of Child Welfare, and breathe.

With the goal being to encourage church members to adopt the over 700 foster children up for adoption in Colorado, there seemed to be some major themes to the event:

1. The 700 children in the foster-care system that are up for adoption are only a percentage of the 2,000-3,000 children that are foster children in the state of Colorado every year. The church doesn't only need to provide folks who are willing to adopt through the foster care system, but also those who are willing to sacrifice by being foster parents who understand that there is no possibility of adopting the children that they care for (since the children have not been legally released to the state by their birth parents).

2. Christians should be very concerned about the foster children that "age out" of the foster system without a family. When a foster child turns 18, they are permitted to go "free" and be responsible for their lives as adults. This means that they are on their own without any family support. Just think how much harder life would be if you truly had NO family. From my extensive research (googling "age(d) out in Colorado" for about an hour;), I have found that anywhere between 300-900 children (can't find consistent/authoritative numbers) "age out" of the Colorado's foster care system every year. How terrible!

3. We heard from parents, siblings, and an adoptee in the foster care system. Some of the other speakers (not mentioned above) at this event helped paint a picture for why and how a family should consider adopting one of these kids. Hearing from Tiffany Beal was the highlight of the event for me. She was adopted by her now family at the age of 11. This was after being abused by her step-father and witnessing her two year old sister die during a drug-laden party that her parents (at the time) were a part of. Her adoptive parents, through patience and love, really helped change Tiffany's life. Tiffany is now in her 20's, loves Jesus, and is finishing up nursing school. I will never forget hearing her story and seeing what God has done in her life because some "Go For It" people decided to adopt her in spite of her being an "unadoptable" child (aka - too old and with two siblings).

4. Adopting a child through the foster care system is time-consuming and difficult, but it is worth it in order to give a family-less child someone to be their mom and dad. Nuff said.

The story of Peter walking on the water was used by two of the speakers (they did not know that one another would be using this as a teaching tool). I think that the example of Peter being a "Go For It" dude is a perfect perspective to highlight. In looking at the crowd of 1,200, I started to wonder, "how many of us are 'Go For It' people?" I was skeptical that there were enough in the crowd to get all these kids adopted. I hope I am wrong! The one thing I know is that Kim and I are determined to be "Go For It" people. We are planning on going through the process of becoming certified foster parents. Apparently this process can take up to a year to complete. Maybe God will make it clear to us that He does not want us to adopt or be foster parents in a year when we are finally certified. Until we hear from Him, we are going to take the steps we can to make a difference. Pray for us!

¹ Saturday was Kim's and my 10 year dating anniversary! 10 years, people!