When my team was in Uganda this past June, I had two different people prophesy that God was going to give me the nations by having children’s homes that would raise up numerous children. Upon this, our pastor-contact then invited my team to visit a children’s home he was starting up and asked me to pray into naming it and taking it over. As much as I wanted to take it right then, I knew that I had to finish the race and then see what God would do after that, but as I was praying the name ‘Legacy’ kept coming up. I thought that this was because my church back home was Legacy Church and I got excited that maybe this was a prophecy about a future ministry through them. Well, little did I know…
Fast forward six months. After finishing up the race, moving to Georgia to work for AIM, then realizing it wasn’t the best fit, I moved back home at Christmas to figure out just what I really was supposed to do. I knew that I was going back into children’s home ministry/ foster care, but where? With what organization? What position was I supposed to take (I did Foster Home Development for my Graduate Internship and Loved It, but I’d like to learn Placement Coordination or Case Management)… so how was I supposed to choose? What about my family… I’m supposed to leave them yet again? What about a car… I had sold mine to make AIM work so where was I going to get the money for that? What about housing… I was still a leaseholder on the GA apartment, so would I qualify for another one? What about my social work license… how was I going to afford doing a state transfer? And what about my student loans… they start back up in February, would I get job by that deadline?
Luckily for me, God is a God of details, so I don’t have to be. I just had to follow His lead and trust that once again He knew exactly what He was doing. Nothing in Texas was available, so I applied to various agencies and children’s homes throughout the country (I mean I was willing to go to Thailand, surely I’d be okay with any state) but through the interviewing process just didn’t have a peace about any of them and ended up staying up late one night turning jobs down and withdrawing the rest of my applications. Before bed, I prayed that God would show me the exact place He wanted me to go.
EIGHT HOURS LATER I woke up to a text my friend Jennifer had just sent me, saying that she felt I needed to check out Family Link, the organization that she (as well as other church members) were foster parenting with. There hadn’t been any openings posted before, but I told her I’d look into it again. Still nothing was posted, but for some reason I sent in an inquiry through their blogsite (which mind you was the only organization I had done this with). Instantly I received a reply asking for my resume. Two days later I received a phone call from Mariah, the director, after she found my WR blog. For the next hour we talked… we both shared our heart and our dreams for foster care and even a little on human trafficking. She then told me that she had just purchased land for a foster family campus that week and wanted to create a culture and atmosphere that seemed just like the WR!
I was asked to pray into if this was where God was leading and give an answer the next day. I did, so we set up an official phone interview for later on during the week and I went out to help with a workday at the campus this past weekend. As I left, Mariah and I both felt that this was where I was supposed to be… I just needed time to figure out the car situation. Within an hour of leaving the campus, I was told that friends were getting a new car this week and felt that they were supposed to just give me the one they had now. At small group two days later I had confirmation as my leader (who had no idea that I had already been talking and interviewing) told me that she had just found this exact same campus and felt I was supposed to be out there.
So… there y’all have it. Starting tomorrow I will join the staff of Family Link, and over the upcoming weeks, will move onto this Foster Family campus in Luling, Texas (about an hour south of the ATX and an hour East of San Antonio!) to help develop it. I’ll also be helping out in various roles within the agency… doing anything from recruiting, training, licensing, placement coordinating, case managing, and occasionally giving the foster parents relief for errands or date nights!
I definitely did not see this coming at all! I mean a free car and my dream job… that’s right here in the heart of Texas, is close to my family and friends, covers my housing siutation, allows me to keep my license, and starts before my student loans kick back up again! I’m definitely blessed beyond belief! And for the record, this campus just happens to be called:
