An Adoption Story: Chapter 4 A Future and Hope
fishing christmas 07
November is National Adoption Month. God tells us we are to care for orphans. He set an amazing example: He adopted us. Certainly not everyone is called to adopt, but probably most of us should ask the question. In honor of National Adoption Month, I am telling our story of adoption—in weekly installments through November. This is Chapter 4. You can read Chapter 1: “I Am Sending You a Son” here. And Chapter 2: The Road to Adoption here. And Chapter 3: The Hard Years here.
Josh is still alive and he is not in jail.His story is filled with many stories, and I am telling only a few highlights. The first 6 years he was with us were challenging. The next 9 years were tortuous. The past 5 years have brought slow but growing stability and greater maturity. Josh worked at the same job for the past 4 ½ years, a huge turnaround from the usual 1-3 month job tenure of the past. He has now started his own landscape business and is working hard to build it into a sustainable income. We always considered Josh the most creative work avoider we had ever seen, so being able to say “working hard” about him is joyous.
An almost eight-year marriage recently ended--one more painful loss in a life with many losses. Josh continues to pay the price for past choices. He is still working to get his record cleared from some clerical mix-ups in the court records concerning his arrests. He makes slow progress toward repairing his bad credit scores from numerous phone and credit companies. Today he told me about failing previously to get a certain job at least six times because he always failed the drug test. New news. He wishes he could quit smoking, but it hasn’t happened yet. His alcohol consumption is mostly under control, but it still lurks, ready to grab him when life gets too painful.
Spiritually Josh is on an uncertain path. He knows God. He wants to walk with Him, but He finds it hard. He is certain God is calling him to serve Him—to tell others what he has lived and learned—but he can’t quite say Yes, Lord. Our relationship with Josh is great now. He seeks out his dad for help with his business and general life advice. He and I talk often about the events and joys and concerns of his days. He is happy for me to tell you his story.
Here are a few comments from Josh about his life—before and now:
Re: What helped you begin to turn around? I was tired of getting in trouble. Fear of going to jail. Seeing how stupid the things I was doing were. Growing up. Good people who loved me and spoke truth to me.
Re: What helps you pursue the path you are on now? Time in the Word (though I don’t do this enough.) Talking to God. The people I surround myself with—and the ones I don’t hang out with. People who have prayed for me and loved me.
Re: What do you desire prayer for? That I will keep walking straight. There are so many ways to step off the path. For freedom from past choices—there are still consequences. Pray that I keep choosing God's path.
Is Josh’s journey on a better track? Without a doubt! Do we think we can rest easy that he will make it? Not quite. The road is still bumpy, with uncertain dips and curves. But God gave us the promise in Jeremiah 29:11 that there was hope and a future for Josh. We believe that! Are we glad God included us in this adoptive story? Absolutely!!
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