Choosing the Better Thing

Choosing the Better Thing

October 17, 2012 By MomLifeToday

After having most of our worldly possessions in storage for much of the last five years, we are finally settling in and undertaking the monumental task of sorting through the memories of what families are all about. As we sort through all that we thought was important enough to spend our time and money purchasing, caring for and now storing, I am reminded that so much of life is about choices.
I love a quote from Chuck Swindoll, “Life is like a coin; you can spend it anyway you want, but you can only spend it once.” As I look through all of my stuff, I am ashamed at what I have most often chosen. I have often chosen to focus on the here and now as if this is forever. Oh, I would have glimpses of what is really important, but mostly I would function as if this earth was my home. My stuff was too important to me.
My children were often my idols. The place I called home was more important than what it should have been. But Jesus, who loves me so, knew that I needed more . . . more of Him . . . and less of me. Loving me, He has not allowed me to stay in that place. He has ever so gently, taken me by the hand and led me to Him.
He was there when the mice infested our boxes and we threw out box after box that had mice scrambling around when we were moving. He was there when our “good stuff” was put in a storage facility that flooded. He was there as we lived in two-bedroom apartments with our three teenagers sharing a tiny bedroom.
Instead of the security of our home, He has been teaching me the security found only in Him. He has led us to churches that have weekly taught us about the sovereignty of God. He has shown us that if our roots are shallow, it takes very little to blow us over and make us question His goodness. He has lovingly shown me that the things that He values are the only things worth spending my days concerned over. He has shown me that He speaks to children regularly and that orphans and widows are truly His priority.
And He speaks to His saints, if we will invite Him and then listen. Probably the most amazing thing He has opened my eyes to is His redemptive work. I firmly believed that if I chose well, then He would bless that and be pleased with my obedience. Instead, He has shown me that if I ask Him to choose for me, then He takes me to places I never would have chosen on my own.
He took me to a beautiful Monday morning that started off (in typical fashion) where I was focused on me and my plans, and within a few, oh so short minutes, I was watching the soul of a once orphaned 6-year-old who had heard from Jesus, leave this world and move into the next. I have had the privilege of seeing adoptive families who were in crisis, feeling that there was no way God could fix what seemed to be irreparable damage, breathe new life into a child’s soul when they gave up and called on His name.
I’ve watched as Jesus takes messes so big that I don’t even know where to begin, and He redeems the lives of those who reach out to Him. He is asking me not to worry about choosing well, but to cry out to Him and listen closely while He asks me to walk with Him. I am being reminded to hold loosely to all that this world has to offer because this world is not my home.
Robin Pennington
Cofounder, Hope for Orphans

Robin, along with her husband Paul, co-founded Hope for Orphans in 2002, before merging with FamilyLife in 2003. Robin is a national pioneer in developing church-based ministry to high-risk post adoptive families and working with high risk adoptive children. Robin founded Hope for Orphans FamilyCare where she now works with Dr. Jon Bergeron. She has been a frequent national speaker at HFO events, Summits, and HFO Institutes and has been a frequent guest on the national radio program FamilyLife Today. Robin has also been a leader in adoption education through her role in the If You Were Mine DVD series from Hope for Orphans. Robin and Paul have been married for 34 years and have six children and 11 grandchildren. Five of their children and three of their grandchildren came to them through adoption.