Just keep swimming...just keep swimming....

Sometimes I envy Dori.  You know, the spunky little bluefish from Nemo?  Her general demeanor was one of peace and joy.  She lived moment to moment and there was nothing holding her back.  There are times I think living like that would be freeing.  You wouldn't have the bad memories, you wouldn't have anxiety because you wouldn't have any concern for what could be in the future.  You literally have a clean slate.
However, the down side to 'Dori syndrome' is that you have to through out the good with the bad.  So, even though you wouldn't have bad memories, you also wouldn't have any good ones.  So, like most philosophies we have to pick and choose what we take from it.  I think from Dori, we need to remember 'just keep swimming'.  That's what we are doing....we are just continuing to swim.
Recently I have had a few people ask me about foster care and becoming a foster parent.  I want to shake their hand and say "come ask me again in about a week or two, now is not a good time".  However, I also feel it is important to be honest.  You don't want anyone doing this for the wrong reason or while wearing their rose colored glasses.  So, I smile and say "I live my life paying and dealing with the consequences of someone else's actions and these consequences come in fits and rage from tiny little people."  As wrong as that sounds....it's the truth.  I have done nothing to harm theses children, but yet I am the one that gets to suffer through the trauma with them.
This past week our family went through something that I pray no one ever has to go through.  We are okay, everyone is okay, it was just a very trying circumstance.  In the big picture, I believe it will be a good thing.  It did shed some light on something from the kid's past we did not know about.  I'm glad we know now, but at the same time I wish I could forget it.  I wish they could forget it.  I wish like Dori, we could smile and 'just keep swimming'.
During this Christmas season, we are reminded of the birth of Jesus, God coming to earth as a baby.    He was 'adopted'.  Jesus had a foster father.  Joseph cared for and raised Jesus as his flesh and blood, even though He was so much more.  Jesus came to this earth to suffer consequences for actions he did not comment.  His focus, His vision, was something heavenly.  It was a God sized mission and a God size plan.  Jesus had to keep His focus on the 'bigger picture' and reason for why He came to earth.
I have to do that sometimes.  Okay....I have to do that a lot.  I have to remember and keep my eyes on the 'big picture'.  If I focus and let my eyes drift to every little problem, I drown.  If I stress every little stroke or wave that comes, I drown.  God's kingdom is the end.  Filling His kingdom with believers to worship along side is the goal.
God has a plan for my kids.  He has a plan for Tater and He has a plan for BB, LB, and LS.  His plan is mighty and His plan is big.  What we go through now is just a stepping stone, a building block, on our way to His destination for us.
So...keep swimming.  Even when the water is rocky, cold, and you feel alone.  Keep swimming.  Know that somewhere out there we are swimming too.  There are others swimming with us.  We might not see them or know they are there, but they are.  So...keep swimming. :)

"If you find yourself with a desire that no experience in this world can satisfy, then the most probable explanation is that you were made for another world."   C.S. Lewis

Exodus 15:3 "The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name."

Isaiah 42:13 "The LORD will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies."