Your Red Sea Moment

The call came unexpectedly on a normal Wednesday afternoon. Normal, being a relative word in this case, because my work team was at the tail end of a major event, hosting dynamic inspirational speakers from across the nation to record a sort of Catholic "Ted Talk." Our intake coordinator from the foster-to-adopt department had left me a message and I stepped outside in the unseasonably hot June afternoon to call her back immediately.

The Mahoney Pool

"Steph, it seems there is an issue with the pool in your backyard. The board down in Indy has denied you and your husband's foster parent application because there is no fence around the pool or automatic hard cover with keypad and lock."

Months of joyful preparation, training, paperwork, anticipation, background checks, prayer for the children who would fill our home, selling old furniture to make room for newly purchased furniture, more paperwork, excitement about building our family, accommodating additional requests, research into schools and sports camps, more training...All of it culminating into a single rejection from a phone call on a "normal" Wednesday afternoon.

Shock. Anger. Frustration. Stress. Anxiety. Confusion. Depression. Sadness. Despair. Tears. Sobbing. Finding a quiet room alone. Collapsing.

My husband and I consoled each other over the phone, but since I was at this work event 45 minutes away, our conversation to process this shocking news was cut short. Thank God for good and holy friends who held me in this grief. They prayed over me and reminded me of the Lord's goodness and beautiful plan for the life of Jeff & my family. That the good and holy desire for children would not go unanswered and that it would be fulfilled in His perfect time.

Then, one of these holy friends shared, "Steph, this is your Red Sea moment." Already exhausted from crying, I responded with "Friend, I have no brain space, what on earth are you talking about?" This is what she said:

We all know the story in the Bible of Moses and the parting of the Red Sea. We read that the hopeful Israelites followed Moses in an escape from slavery in Egypt, only to have Pharaoh's army chase them. Then, Moses lifted up his arms in obedience to God's directions, and the Red Sea miraculously parted so that the Israelites could pass through it before the pursuing army was swept up and drowned. We know that it's a happy ending for Moses and his people... but there is a part that is left out.

These were humans who were living this out in real time. There had to have been a moment when Moses came up to the edge of the Red Sea, saw absolutely NO WAY around it and looked back to realize that Pharaoh's army was closing in and most certainly would kill them or capture them all and bring them back to slavery in Egypt.

It was the moment when Moses looked around and said, "Well, DANG! NOW what are we going to do?"

Scene from 1956 movie The Ten Commandments

That's exactly where you and Jeff are right now. You are standing at the edge of the impossible Red Sea and God already has a plan for how you will cross it. Your only job right now is to be faithful and boldly trust in His plan. Keep praying. Visualize God going before you and crushing all the barriers. This battle belongs to the Lord.

So, as I write this, my incredible husband and I are still at the edge of the Red Sea and we have no idea what we are going to do. It is day five of praying the Sacred Heart Novena for a miracle. We keep praying so hard for the hearts of the sweet children who God has already picked for us -- that they be comforted and know that they are already loved so much.

I thought that it was important to write this now, in our season of grief and struggle and waiting. Because as much sadness that we hold, we also hold the trust that God's power is greater and that we cannot let the evil one steal our hope.

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This section is directed to all of you fantastic people who, while reading this, have been silently pondering the question, "Why can't you just put in a fence or pool cover? It's to keep kids safe, for crying out loud!" Suffice it to say, the details in real life are way more than complicated. We recognize the purpose behind the rules...i.e. to keep children safe and are not opposed to either of those two options. However for purposes of this article, the background details aren't important to be shared right publicly, because, we are still trying to figure out a solution.

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.