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Unimaginable Grace

Sometimes a new season in life brings a new understanding of a familiar verse. This happened for me with Romans 5:8 once we started fostering last year.

This child, broken and sad, consumes all of my affection, all of my attention, and then looks me in the eye and tells me it’s not enough. Meanwhile, my son and daughter get the fringe of my parenting, the scraps of my time, and they tell me “Everything is fine, Dad. It’s okay.”

I know they’re all lying. One lies to protect his heart. The other two lie to protect mine. It’s infuriating and heartbreaking all at once. One hand wants to pull him close and love him, the other wants to push him far enough away that he can’t hurt you anymore.

But it’s not his fault. He’s broken. Shattered.

So you breathe in, hold it, and exhale through clinched teeth and tears, and promise him, “I’ll love you in pieces. You don’t have to be whole.”

And you recognize that it’s not you who’s loving him like this, but rather Christ through you. So you hold him closer.

Jon Mays
South Oklahoma City Campus Team