thEy said JUMP

I woke up the other morning to an email from a friend who is putting together a “Dream Project” for the World Race Alumni. This project is an opportunity that will help propel alumni into obtaining their “dream”. They want to interview 3 people who are living out their dream in order to give this project a push. He asked me to be one of them…

My initial reaction was that I am not the right person. When I thought about “living out a dream”, my mind went directly to “homes” for children where there are moms and dads taking care of 10 kids…creating a FAMILY atmosphere. I feel like I am as far away from that as possible.

I AM NOT THE RIGHT GAL!!

beautiful kids int he slums

Within minutes God took me into the depths of this dream. The heart behind these homes is LOVE and FAMILY. Everyone deserves to be in a loving FAMILY with a mom and dad. Most kids around the world do not have that, even some of my own friends. It breaks my heart. Truly. FAMILY is key. We were designed for them.

Ashley and her dad showing kids how to play a game in the slums

Last week I got to be a part of a World Race Parent Vision Trip. It created an opportunity for intergenerational ministry as well as reconciliation to happen. It was beautiful seeing the FAMILY come together and relationships be restored. Again, it is all about the FAMILY.

Fathers gathering around Emmi to pray for all the broken FAMILIES and speak life into daughters

As I process my last 7 months here in Thailand, it appears that I am not too far from this dream. In fact, seeing FAMILY, being a part of FAMILIES and even being FAMILY to those without has been luring me closer and closer to one of many dreams. I am beginning to understand why I majored in FAMILY Science and why I am drawn to where Human Trafficking begins…the FAMILY in remote villages.

I am not ok with children roaming the streets selling flowers or parents encouraging their teenagers to leave their villages to earn a living in the Red Light District in order to support them. It is not ok that FAMILIES are being ripped a part in Burma due to the war that is raging. I am not ok with children rummaging through trash, begging their way through life in order to survive. What is going on in Thailand and Burma in regards to the FAMILY IS NOT OK.
 

Loving on this precious MeeMee in the slums during the Parent Vision Trip
 

 I am beginning to see that a Children’s Home is only one branch of the entire dream that has been bubbling for years within. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, I really am living out a “dream”.
 

Hanging out at a Children's Home with the Parent Vision Trip

beautiful faces at a children's home