We didn't know anything was missing...

     I just love how God works, don’t you?  There is a saying “if you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans”.   Well, I can tell you that our family of 6, like many,  is a very busy family with hardly a moment to spare it seems.  So when my 19 year old daughter Celine told me that she was going to mentor a (1) child through Urban Family Ministries I thought “That is great!  She will be good at that and can probably squeeze that into her schedule.  And maybe our family can meet this child sometime.”   I think that’s where God probably had his first chuckle. 

     One year later, we now consider our family of 6, a family of 9.  And, we’re connected to an even larger family of 4 more.  You see, what God had planned was something we couldn’t have even imagined.  We didn’t know anything or anyone was missing!    But Celine was obedient to a call to serve.  She met with Noelle at Urban Family Ministries who kindly asked her if she felt she could mentor 3 boys who all live in the same home.  Celine had some doubts, but she is a woman of great courage and incredible faith.  “You lead, I’ll follow” as the song says.  And follow, she did. 

The boys and Kerri's daughters doing a craft together.

I vividly remember meeting Zaonta, Mark, and Kayveon for the first time.  Celine had already spent some time with them and wanted them to meet her family.  They were such polite and precious boys and we had a wonderful time together in our home, eating pancakes.  They came back again and again and each time we got to know each other a little better.  I started to see signs that they were beginning to trust us.  They started opening up more and bringing us into their day to day lives.  We laughed, we played games, we talked about God, about life, about hardships, fights at school, and so much more.  

     I could not imagine life without them.  It now seems that they have been a part of us forever.  We look forward to always sharing life with them, God willing.  They understand we love them.  They understand we enjoy spending time with them.  They understand that we have great respect for their Auntie who loves and cares for them on a daily basis.  And I think they are beginning to understand what unconditional love feels like. 

I’m so thankful that Celine was obedient.  And I’m totally appreciating God’s sense of humor. 

~guest author, Kerri, volunteer