Someone asked me the other day a question about adoption, “Is it ever weird for you that your boys have different parents?”

I thought about it briefly and my answer was surprisingly quick, “Not really.”

I then explained to her that being involved with adoption/ foster care is something we are very passionate about. It comes with many challenges and hurdles but you learn to have more grace for these unique hardships and over time they change your expectations of the process. When you’re living in your purpose you’re not as bothered by some things as much as others would be. For example, one of our adopted sons doesn’t call us mom and dad. In fact, he hasn’t called us mom and dad in almost three years since we’ve been in his life. Typically I think this would bother me more if we didn’t understand trauma/adoption care/ foster care the way we do today. Today we are more accepting of this reality because all that we have been through and understand now about trauma. Our oldest does say I love you to us every so often and I’ll sneak some hugs from him from time to time. At the end of the day, despite what is happening I believe he sees us as his “other parents” and that pushes me to keep going! We know loving him and being a part of his story is our purpose but the journey in this purpose will be far from picture perfect.

At the, The Gathering Church, you will always here our pastor encouraging people to live out 4 core values:

Know God

Find Freedom

Discover Your Purpose

Make a Difference

On this side of heaven, Robbie and I have come to the conclusion that our purposes on this side of heaven is to love God, love people, be a part of the local church, and have a heart for adoption. This is what our family loves to do.

We want to be a part of changing the world and these are the areas God has led us to. Our involvement in adoption and the local church changes depending on the season we are in but we love being a part of these two things. They make us feel alive and close to God.

Maybe you’re still trying to figure out what your purpose is or what you want to do with your life? If only there was a formula to dissecting what our purpose is exactly and discovering what it looks like. I’m not sure there is a how to list out there but what I do know is that when we are close to God, the closer we get to understanding our purpose. He leads us to the desires of our heart. He uses our gifts, passions, personalities, and capacities to make a difference in this world.

I am not sure what that means for you but I would like to encourage you to discover what your purpose is. What do you like to do? What are you passionate about? Is there a cause, need, or a passion out there that makes you feel alive? Take the time to pray about it and ask God to open your eyes or even open a door for you. Maybe your purpose is teaching children and pointing them to Jesus. Maybe your purpose is loving your neighborhood and leading people to church. Maybe your purpose is being a part of a non-profit in your city and allowing God to use you through your own experiences. Maybe God wants to use you in your work place to impact others somehow. Maybe you’re called to be a mom and to raise little followers of Jesus. Maybe you’re called to work at a coffee shop and use your smile and demeanor to make people feel seen.

Whatever it may be, God has called you to a purpose! Discover what that is and live it out! Pull people alongside you to push and encourage you! You have a lot to offer this world and God wants to work through you to advance heaven!

“I am the Lord. I have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will hold you by your hand. I will watch over you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations..”- Isaiah 42:6