mustard seed

You know that teaching of Jesus' that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can tell a mountain to jump into the lake and it will? We usually refer to the faith that can move mountains as a big thing, even though Jesus indicated it's actually pretty small.

I have a good example.:

When Isaac left us to return to his parents, you don't have to be the most observant person to know I took it hard. In addition to the stuff I posted, like this poll, and the personal contact I had with a few people via e-mail and on the phone, I'd say I went through a rough period spiritually. I didn't stop having faith, but I'd be a liar if I didn't admit to giving God a piece of my mind more than once for an hour or more at a time. Still believing, I wondered if it was worth it to.

Essentially the situation was that I had poured my heart and soul into a foster child who for two years had been neglected by his parents and left in an emotional wasteland, only to see him be returned to a situation that hadn't changed at all. It was devastating, it was horrible, and it is still not something I really want to talk about.

Essentially, I had reached a point where I had been walking more in Christ's footsteps than I think I ever had in my life. I found myself in an area that was utterly void of light, and it was impossible to see any way out, in any direction. There was no road, no guiding hand, no hope. Just a voice that said, "Follow me," and no reason given why I should.

I did anyway. That's faith the size of a mustard seed. Now look what God has done with it:

On Wednesday night, after wanting to it for three or four weeks, I called Isaac's father. Isaac's mother a few weeks ago had realized she really can't take care of her children, didn't want to, and didn't want to live with her husband anymore, and walked out on them.

Craig -- that's Isaac's dad -- was not only pleased I had called, he was relieved. See, he's been feeling a little overwhelmed, and had been wanting to call us for the past three or four weeks, but was afraid to do so because he didn't know what sort of reaction he would get.

We talked. I told him that if he needed help with anything, to let us know and we would help out however we could.

That was Wednesday night. On Thursday night, he called back, and asked if we could watch Isaac for him Friday night over into Saturday afternoon. I had to check with Natasha, but I knew our answer would be yes. He needs the help, and Evangeline has been asking about Isaac every day since he left. (We were admittedly a little apprehensive. Isaac was a handful and a half his last two months here, we don't want to be taken advantage of, and we don't want to reopen old wounds for Evangeline.)

As it turns out, the visit with Isaac went rather well. He and his dad showed up around 7:30 Friday evening with a big hullabullo on Evangeline's part. For the next hour-and-a-half she and Isaac ran all over the downstairs, screaming and carrying on and generally having a good time.

I finally got the kids settled down and in bed last night around 9:30. It was an hour-and-a-half past Isaac's regular bedtime, but we figured we could make an exception for something like this. Isaac slept in until 7 a.m. -- and yes, given his history here, that is sleeping in late -- at which point I got him dressed and we went to walk the dog.

The morning went well as the two children played not always together but generally in the same room. You should have seen them in the kitchen just before lunch. Isaac was sitting one the chair, and he and Evangeline were talking to each other through the gaps in the back. They kept it up for about 20 minutes. We finally put Lumpy down for a nap at 1 p.m., he slept until well past 3:30 p.m. Isaac showed up around 4, when I took them both home, Christmas presents and a picture of the two kids included. (Craig doesn't have a car, and I'd like to spare him the taxi fare if I can. Plus this way I know Isaac's in a car seat.)

It went well. I'm looking forward to doing it again. Craig says he would like to do this more, since he thinks we can play an important role in Isaac's life and because he saw how much his son missed not only Evangeline but us as well. We also had one of those connection moments when we realized how much Isaac means to each of us, and had to turn away so we didn't cry in front of one another. (Craig also said he has no problem if Isaac calls us eemah and abba, the names he used for us while he was living here, or if we call him Lumpy. Nice points all around.)

As expected, Isaac has regressed in several areas that I'd have rather he didn't -- the most visible and annoying ones are his tendency to drool incessantly and his steady application of the art of Whining to Get Your Way.

The good news is that Isaac has progressed noticeably in several other areas. He's walking better than ever and not being distracted so easily, although he still employs the fall-down-for-attention tactic; he's developed a longer attention span; and best of all, his vocabulary has increased to a 2-year-old's level. (He's almost 3.) He can even say "dinosaur" when he sees a picture of one. I'm very happy with that.

He also recognized me. Although it took him a little while to warm up, he gave me several unsolicited hugs today, which I'm sure you can understand I've appreciated immensely.

It looks like this will be the start of something long term, relationshipwise.

I hope everyone else's weekend goes as well as mine has been.