It has been just over 18 months since we opened our doors, and let me tell you, starting a nonprofit is not for the faint of heart. Running Roots & Wings has been a steep learning curve for us. It’s been a year and a half of hope, hope lost, gratitude and grace. And every day, we are learning just a little bit more of what it means to saying yes to this wild vision God dared us to dream into existence.
This past summer, especially, has been a bit of a roller coaster ride.
In the craziness of the summer, we looked forward to September, with school back in session and the peacefulness and predictability of a fixed schedule restored. We’d begin looking at that stack of waiting applications, get those skills classes rolling, and really start thinking about some *big* plans we’ve been mulling over for the future. It had endless potential.
And then between the loss of staff and volunteers, difficult cases, hiccups in our plans, sickness, and an unyielding search for workers, we began to lose sight of the dream.
With dwindling staff and a growing waiting list, we felt utterly overwhelmed and confused. Things got way worse before they began to get better, and it’s been hard not to get sucked into a dark, ugly state of discouragement by it all.
Our nature tells us to go, go, go. And yet God’s been telling us to “Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for him to act.” {Psalm 37:7}.
So that is where we are right now, friends. Trying desperately, and, sometimes reluctantly, to just REST in the One who holds Roots & Wings and its future in His mighty hands.
It’s been quite a summer. It’s been a summer with a lot of hard and a lot of fear and a lot of tears. These last two months have not been an easy road to walk, but they were necessary for us to really and truly say yes to this life. Not just yes to successful fundraisers, new buildings and beautiful children. But to say yes through the questions, the disappointments, the unknowns.
We are still saying yes. We are saying yes to this wild journey with God because we want to see him continue to work miracles and we want to continue to see children and families transformed day after day.
