Do you ever have encounters that you cannot shake? You continually offer it up to the Lord, but the awkwardness of the exchange lingers, and you get stuck trying to make sense of it all.  I recently had a conversation with a youth leader that still makes my stomach turn, even months later. I had spent months wondering how my oldest son, Nolan, who struggles socially, has been adjusting to the much larger and louder culture of our church’s middle school youth group. When I had an opportunity to speak to the leader away from Nolan’s listening ears, I jumped at the chance.

I asked how he was fitting in and explained that I feared he could be easily picked on. The leader nodded agreeably and said there was no bullying in the group. In the midst of my breathing a heavy sigh of relief, he quickly followed with, “They pretty much ignore him.” It came across as though it was meant to be reassuring.

I immediately looked to the sky, to give the illusion I was in deep thought. I suppose it was not an illusion, as I did have many thoughts I desired to share. It was intentional on my part, as I feared that, even though I was literally biting my tongue, the rest of my face would convey the message I was not allowing my mouth to share. Thinking before speaking has never been a spiritual gift, so I stood there, dodging anymore eye contact.  No other words were added to the exchange, as I gathered my flock and herded them towards our passenger van. On the way home, I acknowledged that my son was not the only one awkwardly navigating interactions with the middle school leadership. It ran in the family.

Being a special needs parent really sharpens a person’s advocacy skills. If being an advocate was equivocated to knives, we would be Ginsus. We are razor sharp. It was time to put those skills to the test. But I quickly realized that there was no easy answer to this problem. What was I going to do? Make a morning announcement while the kids were all eating donuts that my son is precious and made perfectly by God and he should be treated like the coolest kid in the bunch? Who else could tell you how many pieces are in any given Lego set? He has amazing skills. Which you would know if you ever spoke to him. On second thought, this route seems the opposite of helpful. I would probably need to send him pre-wedgied to the next gathering.

And even though I can speak of some of my thoughts with humor, my heart remained grieved as the days and weeks went on. I would be going about my day, and the statement was right there in my head again. I kept placing it in God’s hands, as I had already determined it was not my battle to fight. Still it came back, almost daily.  I knew, it was time to find the joy in this horrendous comment. I started recalling how many lives Nolan had touched and how he had helped people to see Autism differently. I thought about how he had made everyone more compassionate and understanding. How being comfortable with Autism had led us to foster care. But I found a recurring theme: he made Us better, he made Us more compassionate, he made Us more comfortable. He had bettered us, but it was not a betterment for him. Tears began to flow as I shared the conclusion with God. My son being ignored by people he considered his closest friend brings me no joy.

And God said something so beautiful to my broken heart. “I understand.”

That is true. You do understand what it feels like to have your son ignored by people he thought were friends.  God knows that on a much deeper level then I could ever begin to imagine. A solution was not the answer, but rather remembering I was not alone. Jesus experienced and witnessed more sorrow than any other man who has ever existed. There is no hurt or heart break that we cannot lift to him.

As I thanked God for this reminder, I was so grateful that I am never alone in my heartbreak, or my fear, or my anxiety, or my joy. His word does not promise us that we will not ever be ignored by people we love, but we know that we are never ignored by our Heavenly Father. He will never leave us or forsake us. This we can always rejoice in.

Amen

Could it be you?
Cayela Moody

Have you ever been on a mission trip? That feeling that washes over you as you do the work God intended for you, is almost indescribable. It is the great commission in action and living the new commandment: Love God, Love People. Sadly, it always comes to an end. We come home, we go back to work and the day to day grind. We know God has us where he needs us, but our hearts long to go back and crave that feeling again. So we commit to another week next year, because that is what the mission field looks like for us as Americans.

I have struggled with this way of life for years. I am not called to full-time missions, but yet I still want to live on mission. My church tells me to love my community, to bloom where God has planted me. But if I am being honest, I don’t know how. I didn’t know where to start. So we donated food to pantries so we could feed the poor. We packed Christmas boxes for children so that they could learn more about Jesus. But, my soul needed more.

So what was I missing? The answer was relationships. Because, at the heart of all of this is a relationship. I can read my bible everyday and do amazing deeds and be one of the greatest “Christians” ever known, but without a relationship with Jesus, it is only filthy rags.

So what is the next step? How can I develop these relationships? It seems so easy, but this part is tricky to put into action. Did you know there is a system already set in place? You don’t have to find people who need served, they are already asking for your help. It has been around since our nation was founded and was more formalized over one hundred years ago. With a heavy heart, I fear it has been neglected by the church for far too long. This mission field exists in our nation’s foster care system.

Before you stop reading because you can’t be a foster parent, let me reassure you that God may not be asking you to play that role. His word says:

But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

1 Corinthians 12:18-20

Once again, you ask. How can I help if I am not fostering? Over fifty percent of foster parents will quit within their first year alone. But ninety percent will stay with much needed support. Locally here in Jacksonville, Florida, Fostering Hope stays busy daily meeting needs. We need your help. Because, honestly, we can’t continue without you. The needs are just too great. And there are foster care ministries all over this country that feel the same. You can be the hand and feet of Jesus when someone needs you the most and build relationships where the Holy spirit leads you.

Every day, Karen and I wake up and we say, “God, where will you take me today? What are your plans?” This is the very heart of living missionally. Some days we are hoisting car seats and diapers into a dump truck, because the woman who drives it took her nephews into her home to keep them from going into the system. Can you imagine, waking up one day and going to work as usual, then getting a knock on the door with a one and two-year-old standing there needing a home?

Some days, we just cry with people on their doorstep.

Everyday, we pray… a lot. We even prayed for you today. We prayed that God would raise an army to love the marginalized and vulnerable in our society. Because in a city the size of ours, it is going to take an army. We get requests almost daily for tangible items that are needed. Can you donate gently used clothing to a foster closet? We can’t keep cribs or car seats because they go out as quickly as they come in.

What if my children are grown and I no longer have these items? When Susie Foster Mom picks a newborn up at the hospital, we can provide the diapers, formula, and some freezer meals to sustain them until they can get situated and get to the store. We need people to drop them at their door. The look of relief on her face will say it all. And, chances are, you will want to help again tomorrow. Because loving others in Jesus’s name changes everything.

Maybe you truly don’t have the time, but the Good Lord has blessed you financially. There is a grandmother across town who needs minor home repairs so that she can take her grandchildren. God designed the family. It is His heart to keep it intact. Could you help keep this family together? We can help make that connection for you.

Statistically, if ten percent of churches are involved in some sort of foster care ministry, there will be more than enough beds for foster children in your town. There will be more than enough adoptive homes for every child who needs forever. God is stirring his Bride. I can feel it in the air. If God is moving in you to start a foster care ministry in your church, we would love to share ideas and support you. Even if it starts small, God will multiply the work of those who desire to care for the orphan and the widow.

The mission field is here and the harvest is plenty. We just need some good workers.

Could it be you?

Rejoicing in the Scars

by Cayela Moody

He was my sixth child to master the skill of clapping and by far the most memorable. We were alone on the couch, doing our morning snuggles. The house was optimistically quiet, as if it was preparing for the noise which was inevitably coming.  He is twenty months and hasn’t spoken his first word, or blown a kiss, or waved bye bye. We have spent hours in therapy with this goal teaching to this simple goal, because if you can clap, than maybe we can get him to sign “more”, and if he can sign, he can communicate, and if he can communicate, maybe he will stop banging his head on the floor when he gets mad at us.

I have modeled clapping consistently in play. We have banged blocks together so he understands the motion. I have made him clap his hands while he pushed back more times than I could even count. So, on this unassuming morning, as he was drinking his milk and I drank coffee, equally preparing for our calendar of to-do lists for the day, I never expected it to happen. He set his milk bottle down, (judge me if you must), and he looked studyingly at one hand, then the other, almost as if to say, “So, if I slap this hand against the other one, she might  scream in my face and we will both get a good chuckle out of it.”

So he did and he was right. I screamed and I told him he was the smartest little boy I had ever met and I gave him too many kisses on the cheek to stand. I jumped up and down and danced and I praised the Lord for this simple and amazing talent. Then he did it again. Then he showed Dad when he got out of bed. We spent the rest of the weekend celebrating and I have no plans to stop partying.

I don’t remember the exact moment when any of my other babies learned this common feat. If I have learned anything over the past years of a fuller submission to his calling it is this: The greater the challenge, the greater the reward. Anything that comes easy can be easily taken for granted.

We are so beautifully reminded by Paul in Romans 5:3-4,  We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

I have always been so puzzled by this verse. To me rejoice means a celebration. Perhaps shouting a happy hallelujah? But my heart is rarely filled with delight at the realization that my tomorrows will be heartbreaking for a time or that I am entering a period of anguish and hardship. But this I know to be true: I have always grown more from the storms than the sunshine. Maybe it isn’t the suffering we should rejoice in, but rather the scar to follow.

These battle wounds weave and build our testimony. When someone asks me how I have joy in trials or they have seen me come through a valley, I always point them to the one who fully bore my burdens during that time. It is by suffering that we come to know him on a deeper level. Day in and day out, I find more confidence that he is consistently faithful. A scar will leave us changed forever. We won’t ever be the same again. I can rejoice knowing that this trial will not only help define me, but in time refine me. Jesus bore the ultimate scars and by those wounds we are healed. How humbling to consider that God could use my heartbreak and challenges to someday help strengthen or heal another.

In my refinement and closer walk with Jesus, I still have my share of uphill battles. As I was sharing my full plate with a friend, she in her thick southern accent reminded me, “Honey,  that’s not a plate. You have a platter.”  And when that sense of being overwhelmed begins to creep back in, I remind myself to cast to Christ those fears that I was never meant to carry and focus on the simple joys and moments that I am blessed with or beautiful victories of overdue milestones that are finally achieved.

The Valley View

by Cayela Moody

It was 5:15 in the morning, when I heard an unfamiliar sound in our bed. Evan found something a child had left behind and was rolling it around in his hand. “What in the world is it?”

“They are marbles. Did you lose yours?”

It certainly feels like it most days. And I know from my conversations with others who are walking this similar journey, I am not alone in feeling this way.

I am embarking on another year of homeschooling and when I put together my schedule this year, I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry. We have six children, three of which require tutoring and therapies that amount to forty hours a week. I have a route that surpasses most UberXL drivers. It seems so very impossible. When I get overwhelmed, I shrink. I make myself as small as possible. I get very quiet and I wait to hear something, anything, from a God I know is near.

In the quiet I was reassured, but not how I had hoped. The message was simple. This is a valley. Thanks. I already feel like I am losing. I have lost control. That superhero glow has long since faded in the light of foster care and adoption and the chaos that abounds in our home. I feel like I am losing myself, my sanity, even my friends.

A few weeks later, I was watching the kids swim. My oldest daughter, Margaret, came rushing inside. She was whining about a race she lost, and she got very irritated with me. “Are you even listening?”

“You didn’t lose the race. You lost the joy.”

Her eyes followed mine. We both watched as my youngest daughter, who has been deathly afraid to jump in the pool all summer, was taking gigantic leaps into my oldest son’s waiting arms. But that message wasn’t for her, it was a reminder to me. I am not losing in life; I am losing sight of what matters. I focused on the hard and lost sight of the joy.

I understood what he meant by the valley. I was wholly focused on a singular definition: a low point. I needed to reconsider the meaning. I imagined myself as a child in my grandmother’s rocking chair. She is crocheting as Elvis sings “Peace in the Valley” in the background. It was time for me to find rest and stillness in waiting for him. I was reminded to look around and find joy in the ordinary. I need to adjust my view from the valley. If I only focus on what life could be on the mountain top, I will miss the miracles in the moments of today.

Psalm 84 speaks of the Valley of Baca, which is translated as the valley of weeping. Verse 10 so beautifully reminds us: Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. What a soul filling reminder. Better is one day in the valley with Jesus, than a thousand mountaintop experiences apart from him.

What a day! I have been on the phone, fielding e-mails, interviewing. Finally, at three, I sat on the couch with all my babies and watched a movie. Because I didn’t want to think about foster care for a moment.

I have spent the week talking with news outlets about reunification as the primary goal and finding ways to support biological families. How much we need caring and compassionate families to love on these children. I said everyone has a role, that we can’t turn a blind eye anymore. I agreed that it is a broken system, but that is even more a reason to rise up and protect these amazing, vulnerable children.

And every time a new story came out, it was the same: Baby gets adopted after 700 days in foster care.

The reality is, this isn’t a fairy tale. I am beyond grateful Isla is here and so loved and very safe. But, adoption is messy. There will always be questions I can’t answer. There were some paths in this journey that still keep me up at night. I think of Isla’s first mama all the time and will tell Isla when she asks someday that her mama loved her so much.

And in our very broken world and in this messy, broken system, still beauty resides. I see it every moment of the day. Every time I look at all these children in my home.

And every day, Evan walks up with Isla or our other foster baby in his arms and he says something like, “Look at this. Have you ever seen anything so precious? Did you ever imagine we would be so blessed with these amazing babies.” He exudes fatherly pride. Everyday this has happened for two years. It never gets old.

We aren’t the story. The happy ending isn’t the story. You have been the story. Every prayer, every card, every casserole, every coffee delivery. When you asked me if I was okay and I collapsed in your arms. When you came to court. When you called. When you babysat and arranged nights out for us. When you included our children from the foster system in the Christmas exchange, just like all the other cousins. When you proudly framed them in your family photos. When you loved us beyond anything we ever felt we deserved. That is the story here.

Thank you. To our family, Fostering Hope, and our churches Fruit Cove Baptist Church and Refuge Church, FBCH + One More Child, and all our friends.

I am sharing the story from CBS today, which really highlighted our community. We are grateful to Good Morning America and the other news outlets that shared our story today as well.

There is a foster child who needs you. Maybe it is a gift, maybe it is a mentor, maybe it is a meal, or maybe it is a home. But, you have a role somewhere. We all do.

-Cayela Moody

Link to video below ?

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/2-year-old-in-foster-care-for-700-days-gets-virtual-adoption-hearing-and-parade-to-celebrate/

Welcome to our page! We are so happy you found us. Whether you are here just to learn more about our church and our ministry, whether you’re a foster/adoptive parent or know someone who is, or whether you are just searching for something God has put on your heart…YOU are in the right place!

Our foster and adoptive ministry, “Fostering Hope” originally began several years ago, although it didn’t look anything like it does today. As with many ministries and outreach mission groups, it all started with identifying a need.

I will never forget the morning God opened my eyes to this world and all of its heart-breaking brokenness. At the time, I had just taken on the role of Sunday School Teacher for the one-year-old crew at Fruit Cove Baptist Church (FCBC). I was searching desperately to find my place, to plug-in, and to really serve this amazing church community that I had been a part of for so long. I knew God was speaking to me. I knew this calling was for children, so this is where I started. I had two school-aged kiddos of my own and I was super eager to jump back into the baby world and get those elusive snuggles in that were starting to be less frequent with my own children. Little did I know, God wasn’t stopping there. He had bigger plans, and this would be the platform for it.

A couple of months went by… I was getting into my groove… feeling pretty good about my decision to serve…when a woman unexpectedly walked into my classroom with a young boy. I had never seen her or this child before. We navigated through the normal drop off banter but when we finished, she said, “he is our respite placement for the weekend so it will only be for today.” And as quickly as she had appeared, she had walked out and left us with this precious little boy. Respite? Did I miss something? What did that mean? I thought I had maybe missed something in my Sunday School education quarterly meeting. Our Preschool Ministries Director, Mrs. Ginna would NOT be proud. It sparked a lot of questions that continued to plague me the rest of the day. Then, it carried into the week. I wasn’t sure how to deal with this overwhelming sense of uncertainty. I couldn’t get it off my mind! Then, the following Sunday, as we were starting our day, the same woman walked back through the door with her respite placement from the weekend prior. Baby J! She said something came up and that he was with them again! Um, CRAZY! I knew this had to be a sign. When she left, I tracked her down and forced her to have coffee with me. I asked her so many questions I was sure she thought I had lost my mind and I’d never hear from her again. That was the first time I met one of my (now) best friends, Karen Roy, our Fostering Hope Ministry Leader. And this is only MY story…. One of many…

The need was there. My eyes were opened. I guess you could say I took the red pill? After that, our  HUGE, expansive church community started to change shape into a much smaller, very intimate community: Who was fostering? Who wanted to foster? Who had adopted? Who was going through training courses to be a foster/adoptive parent? We ALL had so many questions and yearned so deeply for fellowship with like minded people. It wasn’t long until we had an amazing group of families that rallied behind each other. We supported each other as we navigated through the storm that ensues when you step into the broken world of foster care. Next thing we knew? Our community was growing…exponentially….We started planning monthly dinner dates at Panera to get out and talk about our families, our cases, our fears, our doubts, and to most importantly, pray for each other and the children. The need was so evident! These children NEEDED loving Christian homes, but these families NEEDED support themselves to carry through this emotional, soul-testing journey. Our mission then became focused on the “How?” How do we support these families and in-turn, better serve these foster/adoptive children and their biological families?

How were we going to offer support to foster and adoptive parents? To their bio families? Not only in our church, but in our community? We knew we wanted to start small with accomplishable goals and we knew we could immediately provide prayer. When we reached out to our church, the support was honestly overwhelming. The prayer ministry welcomed our prayer requests with open arms. They even requested weekly updates…. not only from our church members, but from community families! And our church didn’t stop there. Our Family and Missions Pastor, Johnathan Wilson, quickly and eagerly jumped on board! He knew we didn’t have to travel far to reach those in need. Our mission field was right in our backyard. And it was huge…

After the church’s full backing, things literally took off and RAPIDLY grew momentum in a shockingly short period of time. What started as a monthly get-together between foster parent friends quickly snow-balled into a full-blown ministry, serving our own church families as well as those in our surrounding areas. It is nothing short of a miraculous display of God’s handiwork, as he laid the groundwork for this ministry to take flight.

We created an advisory board consisting of past and present foster and adoptive parents as well as a Guardian Ad Litem to help guide the ministry, lay a foundation, and maintain focus on our mission. What better way to start a ministry than through those that have walked the path?! This then led to spreading the word! We formalized our monthly meetings and were provided space on campus at FCBC. We also created a Facebook page to provide a platform to share meetings, provide encouragement and prayer,  and to engage the community. Within a few short months, our group was now a ministry! Fostering Hope was born and was now a fully operational ministry with a focus on outreach and support not only within our church home, but within the surrounding community of Northeast Florida. We created a “closet” to store essential items, clothing, bedding, diapers, formula, you name it….all to support foster children in care. We started to become well known in the community as we worked diligently to partner with local agencies, neighboring churches and foster/adoptive minded businesses. It wasn’t long before we realized we needed a model or framework to operate under. As soon as the need arose, God provided!! Crazy how he does that right? We quickly partnered with CompaCare and adapted their proven framework to wrap around foster families with support to retain foster families. This support is necessary to ensure these families stay actively licensed and continue fostering so that these children can come to know the Lord in a safe, nurturing and CONSISTENT Christian home.

Through this model, Fostering Hope has been able to provide reliable wrap-around care for ALL of our actively licensed foster families at FCBC. This includes a volunteer advocate for each family who manages a team of volunteers. This team provides services such as meal deliveries, goody baskets, babysitting, clothing and supplies. This is possible only through VOLUNTEERS who answer the calling that has been presented to them…AMAZING! We couldn’t do it without them…

So, most importantly, we want to share our “WHY!” At Fostering Hope, our goal is to introduce this Christian-based program into our surrounding community by partnering with neighboring churches and agencies. We believe every family who fosters should have a team of support and prayer backing them. This is God’s true requirement of us, is it not? He calls on us ALL as Christians to care for the orphan. Not only does he ask us to care for the orphan and widow, but he exclaims that it is PURE AND FAULTLESS religion to practice this! We should routinely practice this to keep from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27) WOW. Focus on the good. Focus on the needs. This seed has taken hold and the overwhelming support has turned into this magnificent demonstration of how God can truly guide willing hearts and PROVIDE when you are simply willing to say, YES! Yes, to foster care! Yes, to supporting foster and adoptive families! Yes, to volunteering efforts to “the least of these.” “GOD IS LOVE! Anyone who lives a life of LOVE is joined to Him. There is NO fear in love. Instead PERFECT love drives away fear. Because fear has to do with being punished and those who are punished do NOT have perfect love…WE LOVE BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US!” (1 John 4:19). And we will not rest until EVERYONE, even the orphan, even the “least of these,” knows it…