We knew the day would come. We knew one day a phone call would have to be made that would break apart a family and tear our hearts into a million pieces.
That day came last Spring. A case that was too big, too out of control that we had no choice but to call DIF (Mexico’s Child Protective Services) to recommend a child be removed from his home.
We were absolutely devastated about this situation and the truth is we still haven’t quite gotten over it. We felt guilty that maybe we hadn’t done enough; we should have seen the warning signs; maybe we weren’t wise in our decision process…
There was a never-ending list of ‘what if’s.’
We so badly wanted to make it better, to keep them safe. We loved and protected these children as best we could. But although it broke our hearts, sometimes loving and protecting a child means accepting that the dangers at home are just too great and beyond the help we can offer them.
Even though one of the children had to be removed from the home and placed in a children’s shelter, we followed him to his new home. We took responsibility to ensure he had enough clothing and shoes; we sent one of our staff there daily to continue his education; and we made sure to never leave him in doubt of our love and support.
We even began trying to work with new family members in hopes of seeing the children resettled with someone else in the family.
A month passed. Then two. Then three. The case didn’t seem to be moving forward, and reaching the day when we would see him leave the shelter seemed more and more uncertain.
Then last week, that long-awaited call came in. After four long months, our boy was being resettled with his biological father and his family. Not only that, as a condition of his resettlement, he would be be returning to Roots & Wings!
PRAISE JESUS!
Join us in thanking God for this miracle. Pray for the family as it is a big adjustment for all of them; pray for patience and wisdom in the transition.
Pray for this young boy. Pray for his heart to heal. Pray for peace and courage as he faces another big life change. Pray for God’s love to bring about something beautiful through this whole situation.
His name and those of his family will remain anonymous, but perhaps one day when he is grown, he can tell you of the struggles he has borne and how God came in and changed his world for good.
“Hallelujah! It’s a good thing to sing praise to our God; praise is beautiful, praise is fitting. He heals the heartbroken and bandages their wounds. He counts the stars and assigns each a name. Our Lord is great, with limitless strength; we’ll never comprehend what he knows and does.”
Psalm 147 (The Message)
