“When our son came to us through foster care, he was three years old—and his first language was Spanish. Because there wasn’t a Spanish-speaking family available, he was placed in our home. We have many strengths as a family, but speaking Spanish isn’t one of them! Looking back, I can only imagine how overwhelming it must have been for him—on top of the trauma of being separated from his biological mother, he suddenly found himself in a home with different food, different music, a different rhythm of life, and a language he didn’t understand. I had taken quite a bit of Spanish in college, and I remember praying, “Lord, bring back every word of Spanish I’ve ever learned!” I quickly

Our family is big on the outdoors—camping, hiking, fishing, and exploring the unknown. It’s easy to see God with us when we are in his creation and enjoying things that are beautiful. The journey into foster care…has been a different kind of adventure. This time, the unknown has seemed less exciting and way more scary. We welcomed our first foster child into our home almost two years ago. It has been a time of many happy moments, but also grief and a hard like we’ve never experienced before. Everything has been new and we’ve had to learn (fast!) how to organize so much paperwork, understand court and all the people involved, and juggle visits. But more than all that, the

“Ministry is others being blessed by the oil that came from what crushed you.” When I heard this statement, it took my breath away. It’s true! And not just in my life, but throughout the Redemptive Story we see in Scripture. We see it in the life of Joseph, who was able to say to his brothers who’d sold him into slavery, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen. 50:20). We see it in the story of Naomi, the female Job, widowed and barren in a patriarchal culture, whose daughter in law, Ruth, fiercely chose a path of self-sacrificial love and devotion to