You may wonder why I haven't simply gone ahead and done this already. If truth be known it's been a challenging year for me in terms of being a Glory carrier. I'm a firm believer that followers of Jesus by nature are glory carriers. Since our little lad was placed with us he has challenged every spiritual principle we have lived by thus far.
He had been in care for three months and had already experienced a placement break down due to his anger issues and violent outbursts. From day one it was like having a ticking bomb come into our home. One never knew when he was likely to explode. The unpredictability, destruction and abuse became a daily occurence which challenged our teenage daughters to threaten leaving home. So much for a glory place. We were living in a war zone!
The support we recieved as specialist foster carers to hold onto this type of child was invaluable and certainly saw us through the worst few months of our lives as a family. He came to us carrying 7 years worthy of stored up and unchallenged violence, abuse, confrontation and social and emotional neglect. Exactly the worst case scenario depicted in National newpapers over the last year. Considered a ferrel child, he was actually in need of secure boundaries and unconditional love. But OH!....the cost to us all!
9 months on and we are finally sensing the peace, beginning to breathe again and feel like we are reestablishing our home order. This child has slowly got the message and is responding to the boundaries, loving discipline, follow through on consequences of behavious (both positive and negative!) and we are starting to feel that the war is over. He loves the boundaries and is like a dry and thirsty well when it comes to recieving praise and affirmation .
As I look back over the stormy months when as a family each one of us was battered in some way and emotionally abused, I can see that the GLORY has been there all along. In fact the glory has been increasing through adversity and challenge. The glory that has been deposited, that we draw from and for which we daily crave has left our home more of a glory place than I guess it would ever have been if we hadn't opened our arms to this lost and written off child.
