Here's To Needing Wisdom in New Ways

I started fostering two weeks ago, and now I’m knee-deep into something I’ve never done before: parenting (or usually it feels like big-sistering :)). So here’s to new adventures and to needing wisdom in new ways…
Now in my house, there’s more laundry, more food, more dishes, more shoes piled up by the door. (The sight of their shoes by my door actually really warms my heart.)  There’s more laughter and more conversations and more hugs.
 
And you know what? There’s MORE to worry about too. There are MORE reasons to doubt myself. There’s MORE to keep me up at night if I let it.
 
But I decided long before I started this fostering journey, that I would trust God to give me wisdom each day. Of course, I’m a rookie; of course, I’m naïve. But I’m audacious enough to believe that God will give me enough wisdom every single day.
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​I didn’t used to be this confident about receiving the daily wisdom-bread from God. But then I read a story in the book Rich in Love by Irene Garcia. In this book, Irene tells the story of how she and her husband adopted a baby girl named Esther who had some health problems. Esther began having seizures because when she cried, she held her breath and wouldn’t let air out. She began having about 5 seizures a day. In an effort to stop the seizures, the doctors put her on stronger and stronger medicine until she was so medicated and lethargic that Irene felt her little girl was living like a zombie.
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Irene prayed that God would show her how to help her daughter. She pleaded day after day, “Please, Lord, give me wisdom.”
Irene writes, “Then it came to me. I would teach Esther to blow on my finger. If she did that, she would have to exhale and let her air out.”
Irene taught Esther how to blow on her finger like a birthday candle every time she cried. Even Esther’s older brothers were able to help with this when they saw her start to cry, and thank God, the seizures stopped.
When they went to the doctor, he was shocked that it worked, but he agreed to wean her off the medication. Irene knew that God had given her the wisdom to know how to help her daughter.[1]
 
That story has been a reminder to me that God can give us wisdom for every situation.
 
Even though the opportunity to be a foster parent brings MORE to worry about and MORE reasons to doubt myself, I’ve decided not to dwell on my worries, but to look to God for wisdom. Probably every day a new little (or sometimes big) worry pops up in my mind, but I’m making myself say, “Nope, my job isn’t to worry about that. My job is to keep focused on the main thing and to do what God has asked me to do today.”

I know I’m naïve, and I know I lack wisdom. So I say, YES, PLEASE when I read James 1:5-6:  “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt…”
 
My family and friends keep asking me how I’m doing with this adjustment and this new role, and the truth is that I’m tired, but I’m doing really well. I’m ENJOYING the opportunity to be a part of their lives. I’m not freaking out thus far because I’m audacious enough to believe that God will give me enough wisdom every single day.
 
I wanted to remind you of the truth about the daily wisdom-bread today—because I may need you to remind me of it in the weeks and months to come. #WeWontShrinkBack


[1] Garcia, Irene. (2014). Rich in Love: When God Rescues Messy People. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook. (pp. 93-95).