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What Season Are You In?
By Gary Khan
I grew up in a place that experienced two seasons: the dry season and the rainy season.
Then I moved to California, and I got to experience one season – the dry season. I have heard that many Americans experience four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Must be nice. Yet, whether we experience two seasons or all four, seasons represent different times in our human existence, and they are integral to our life experience. Solomon, the wise king and philosopher, echoes that sentiment when he says that to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Some time ago as I was going through a somewhat dry season of my own, I heard Rev. Gary Emery, a former Open Bible Pacific Regional Superintendent, speak about seasons. His words led me to explore this idea of seasons further. The following observations are the results of that sermon and my subsequent further exploration.
SEASONS ARE PROVIDENTIAL
Seasons are created and directed by God. The prophet Daniel proclaimed, “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning” (Daniel 2:20-21, NIV). Similarly, Luke writes in Acts that God is the source of our life, breath, and everything we need. He is the One who determines where we reside, and it is through Him that we are able to live, to do what we do, and to be who we are (Acts 17:25-28).
God ordains the seasons we are in. He placed us in this world in these times and in this season. We may not be happy with God’s choice of timing, but none of it is by chance or error.
SEASONS ARE PURPOSEFUL
From before our birth to the moment of our death, God is accomplishing His divine purposes. Every event in our lives has a season, an appropriate time – not produced in some random order, but in a manner that’s charged with God’s purpose (even though we may not always understand His purpose). The prophet Isaiah declared that God shaped our life in our mother’s womb (Isaiah 44:24), and the prophet Jeremiah lets us in on God’s declaration to him that “even before He made him in his mother’s womb, He knew Jeremiah and chose him for a special work” (Jeremiah 1:5). Solomon informs us that if we cooperate with God’s purposes and timing life will not be meaningless. Everything, even the most difficult experiences of life, will be “beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
“And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God
and are fitting into his plans” (Romans 8:28, TLB).
Pause for a moment and ponder the four seasons that God has ordained. Even without much deep thought we can easily see some of their purposes. Spring is the time of beginnings, exciting opportunities, and anticipation for the future. Seeds planted during this season will take root and mature during summer’s labor, producing a harvest in the fall, when we get to reap the rewards of our efforts. Everything draws to a close in winter.
Often, we think of childhood and youth as springtime, while summer represents the emerging prime of life. Fall starts somewhere beyond middle age, and everything slows and fades to a finish in elderly wintertime.
Applying the seasons to our growth, our progress, or our advancement, we can recognize that each season is unique and adds important dimensions to life.
- Spring is about potential, promise, planning, and possibilities. It’s a time of opportunities and beginnings.
- Summer is a time of growth and maturation. The seeds we planted during spring mature into full-sized plants. Summer is a season of work, when we invest the time and effort required to become good at what we do.
- Autumn is the season of harvest. We see the production/reward of our labors. Our hard work begins to pay off.
- Winter is the season of winding down, withdrawal, retreat, and closure. Activities, responsibilities, and relationships draw to a close. This is the time of ending. It also represents a period of rest, restoration, and reflection.
God has a purpose for every season we go through.
SEASONS ARE PASSING
Seasons are not permanent, and until God stops the process, the cycle will repeat. The season in which you now find yourself will soon pass. Once winter passes, another spring is at the doorstep.
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18-19, NIV).
Seasons do not last forever; they are transient. They will pass and another season will be upon us. Understanding that our seasons are passing, providential, and purposeful is valuable; however, of greater value is what we do in those seasons. What should be our response to each?
“The night may be filled with tears, but in the morning we can sing for joy!” (Psalm 30:5, ERV).
Embrace your season.
Often our first response to a challenging season is to complain our way through, which inadvertently prolongs the season or at the very least makes it seem longer that it is. As a result, we waste a cycle and must wait to repeat the season.
The Israelites serve as a prime example of this. It took them forty years to grasp the necessary lessons of trust and obedience to God before they could enter the Promised Land. Instead of seizing the opportunity immediately, they had to endure repetitive seasons over four decades. Remember that seasons are part of God’s providential plan, unfolding in a specific time and sequence with a purpose. No matter the season we find ourselves in, it is vital to fully engage with it and embrace it.
All too often people want to skip a season. We want to jump straight from the idealistic stage of spring to the harvest season of autumn without investing the necessary effort and diligence we must put in during summer. However, this inclination often disrupts the entire process. The way we handle one season profoundly impacts how we experience the seasons that follow. What we sow in one season directly impacts the harvest we reap in another. Embracing each season in its proper sequence and faithfully fulfilling the tasks and responsibilities it entails is crucial for a fruitful and fulfilling journey.
“And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up “ (Galatians 6:9, TLB).
On the other hand, clinging to a season too long can also have adverse effects. Imagine wearing summer clothes in the middle of winter simply because you are reluctant to let go of summer and embrace the reality of winter. Such a choice would be uncomfortable, unproductive, and often detrimental. We sometimes hold onto a particular season as a drowning person would desperately clutch a piece of flotsam, unwilling to release it and transition into a new phase. This clinging can hinder our growth and prevent us from fully embracing the opportunities that the next season holds.
So, we have season rushers and season graspers. Neither is good. The way to live the most fulfilling life possible is to recognize when it is time to let go, allowing ourselves to move forward and gracefully enter the new season that awaits us. We need to be “season sensitive” in how we live, but keep in mind that no season is perfect. Each has its unique problems.
The way we handle one season profoundly impacts how we experience
the seasons that follow.
Spring’s gentle showers can turn into torrential rains that seem to flood everything. Or the opposite happens. We are left expecting rain to come and it never does. Other times (like this year), it seems as if winter just keeps going through spring. We want to move to the next season, but the current season persists.
Summer can become scorching and dry, and we must toil in the beating sun. We want to run from the heat and look for shade and the air-conditioner. In the fall, early frost can damage the harvest.
Again, no season is perfect, and we have no control over them. But before you throw up your hands in despair, remember we do have control over our response to the season. The choices we make today have the potential to produce compounded results in the future. The hard work we put in during our summer determines the rewards of autumn and the comfort of winter. You cannot enjoy a bumper crop in autumn if you waste your summer taking siestas. So embrace your season. It is going to happen whether you like it or not.
Explore your season.
Learn and see what God is doing.
“Learn a lesson from a fig tree. When its branches sprout and start putting out leaves, you know that summer is near” (Matthew 24:32, CEV).
To get the most out of where you are, you must understand the characteristics of your season. When we recognize the season, we need to make necessary adjustments to get the most out of it. Enlist the help of others, especially those who may have gone through what you are now going through or those who are in a different season who can offer you encouragement. What we must not do is stay away from others because we are angry that they are in springtime while we are in the heat of summer.
Inquire of God:
- What lessons are you teaching me?
- What actions do I need to be taking?
- What is my plan moving forward?
Esteem your season.
Recognize God is in control.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, NIV).
Don’t forget, seasons are God ordained and purposeful. God is working all things for His good purposes. So, enjoy the season you are in. Do not despise it; do not run from it; do not have a bad attitude about it. Instead of being unhappy or even fearful about where we are, we should be praying:
Father, You have placed me here at this time. How do You want to use me? How can I be available to You so that You can work out Your purposes in this place? ”
Are you in spring? Times of beginnings can be invigorating, and spring offers brand new opportunities and possibilities. In springtime you may feel like you are invincible and don’t recognize your dependence on God. You may be excited about the possibilities, but take time to understand how those opportunities stack up against God’s purposes. The decisions you make in this season of promise will determine much for the other seasons.
Are you in summer? The seeds we planted during spring have matured into full-sized plants. Some of you are close to harvest. Do not give up now. You are hot and tired and nearing the edge of exhaustion and you want to jump ahead to fall, but to jump ahead would be short-circuiting what God is doing in you. Stay the course. Keep tilling, keep watering, keep tending the crop, and don’t give up.
Are you in fall? Your hard work is beginning to pay off. It is easy to get prideful in this season and think that your success is all your own doing. It is also easy to devalue other’s input. But how you handle this season of harvest sets you up for the next cycle of seasons.
Are you in winter? Maybe your activities, responsibilities, and relationships are winding down. This is the time of finishing well. It is a period of rest, restoration, and reflection.
Remember your calling.
“Preach the Word of God urgently at all times, whenever you get the chance, in season and out, when it is convenient and when it is not ” (2 Timothy 4:2, TLB).
In every season you are a witness to God’s power and sovereignty. Your response in your seasons of good and bad, blessings and challenging times preaches a message to the people around you. What is your response to the seasons of your life communicating to those around you about God?
About the Author
Gary Khan served as pastor of Desert Streams Church of the Open Bible in Santa Clarita, California, for 32 years. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Operations for Marketplace Chaplains in Southern California. He also serves as district director for the Southern California/Arizona/Hawaii district of Open Bible Churches. Gary is author of the devotionals Greater and Reset as well as his book, That Didn’t Go the Way I Thought: Navigating the Ups and Downs of Our Journey of Faith. Gary’s greatest achievement and joy is that of being husband to DeLaine for the past 32 years and father of three amazing kids (two biological and one “adopted”).
Church planting isn’t for the faint of heart. All church plants require faith, but it takes a special kind of crazy to “parachute plant,” where church planters “parachute” into a new place, starting from nothing with few resources or contacts. After seven years of pouring our hearts and souls into CityLife Church, a parachute church plant in Wilmington, North Carolina, my husband Mike and I were pretty certain God was calling us to do something different. We genuinely believed God was calling us into missions. In hindsight, I guess He was – just not in the way we pictured it.
This time, our “yes” led us into what was at that time the murder capital of America.
Neither one of us had a desire to plant another church, but the thought of doing something new was exciting to us. So, towards the end of our tenure at CityLife, we let the stirring of something new brew within us even though we had no idea what was coming.
During this season, a couple of things happened that God used to speak to our hearts. The Vanartsdalens, close friends of ours at CityLife, came to us with the news that they were moving to help plant another church within Open Bible (read more about their story HERE). As we celebrated what God was doing with our friends, it reignited a feeling within us that we had forgotten. (Never underestimate how your “yes” might affect someone else’s!) That feeling was the excitement and spiritual rush that comes with church planting. Neither Mike nor I expected to feel this again, and we were surprised to find the desire in our hearts to plant another church.
Everything changed after a conversation with our Open Bible Regional Director, Nathan Hagan. When we shared our initial desire with him, he began to brainstorm some different options for us to consider. One idea jumped out to both of us: “If you guys were interested in planting another church in the region, maybe it could be someplace like New Orleans.” Nathan mentioned other places, but the only one we remembered is the one that stuck to our hearts like glue. New Orleans: the word was spoken, and the Spirit responded!
Mike and I decided early on in our marriage that whatever God called us to do, we would say yes. This time, our “yes” led us into what was at that time the murder capital of America: New Orleans, Louisiana. It is extremely hard to uproot your family and your life and move hundreds of miles away to a place where there are no family, friends, or security. Despite these challenges, we sold many of our possessions, took what we could in a truck and trailer, and headed off into the unknown!
As soon as we put boots on the ground, we quickly realized that this city, this plant, and this call would be different from anything we had ever done. Almost immediately after moving, we were met with a triple homicide four houses down from ours, I was violently robbed at gunpoint, and our kids had a gun pulled on them while playing outside in our neighborhood. We faced circumstances that most people assumed we would run from, but when you know the Lord has called you to a land, you must trust that He will protect and prosper you in that land. Suffering is part of the calling; if we aren’t willing to suffer for the calling, we won’t partake of its full blessing. “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13).
To rewind just a bit, when we knew for sure that we were moving, Mike sat our kids down and had them help compile a dream/prayer list of people we’d love to have on our team. Some on the list were Spirit-led, some were hopefuls, but all of them were people we thought might be crazy enough to consider moving with us!
Back before we’d moved to North Carolina for our first church plant, we had told our friends Greg and Tina that we felt they were supposed to come with us. I think Greg laughed at Mike when we first shared this, but they are now the pastors at CityLife! In similar fashion, we had another friend couple in Ohio that we video chatted with as we prepared to plant in New Orleans. We shared the news of where we were moving then asked them to pray about joining us. They agreed to pray, but I’m certain they thought we were crazy!
We faced circumstances that most people assumed we would run from, but when you know the Lord has called you to a land, you must trust that He will protect and prosper you in that land.
It’s amazing to see how God works in lives, stirring people’s hearts to be part of things that take an incredible amount of faith. Here we are two years later, and Pastor Eric and Lindsay Baker are in New Orleans with us putting their hands to the plow! They moved from a one-light farm town to one of the wildest cities in the world. They and their seven kids gave their “yes” to the Lord, leaving everything they had ever known. They have had their car stolen twice, and yet here they remain. In addition to the Bakers, God sent us another person from our dream list without us even having to ask; Mike’s mom, Lynne, joined the team and lives right next door to us now!
Fast forward to present day: we are so excited to see what God is doing at OHR City Church! “Ohr” is the Hebrew word for “light,” and it also means “to bring order amid chaos” (so fitting for this city!). Almost nothing has gone how we thought it would here, yet we believe everything is going exactly how God designed it.
We are currently meeting every Sunday night in our house where we eat, worship, dream, pray, and study the word of God together. While the adults meet in our house, the kids go to Momma Lynne’s house next door! Our team is growing, and we are all becoming a family. None of us knows exactly where the Lord is taking us yet, but everyone is on board to find out!
If you feel God calling you to something, I encourage you to step out in faith and give God your “yes”!
*Want to read more from Mike and Cala Dickey? Read their related article: Five Ways to Support Church Planting
About the Author
Cala Dickey
Mike and Cala Dickey are the lead pastors at the Southeast Region of Open Bible’s newest church plant, OHR City Church, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Before heading down to the bayou, Mike and Cala planted CityLife Church in Wilmington, North Carolina. They are passionate about pioneering and planting churches in areas that desperately need Jesus. The Dickey family is excited for what God is doing through OHR City Church in New Orleans! To learn more, visit Ohrcc.com.
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Un «Sí» costoso: Plantar una iglesia en la capital del asesinato en Estados Unidos
La plantación de iglesias no es tarea fácil. Toda plantación de iglesias requiere fe, pero la «plantación en paracaídas», en la que los plantadores «saltan en paracaídas» a un lugar nuevo, partiendo de la nada y con pocos recursos o contactos, requiere un tipo especial de locura. Después de siete años de derramar nuestros corazones y almas en CityLife Church, una iglesia plantada en paracaídas en Wilmington, Carolina del Norte, mi esposo Mike y yo estábamos convencidos de que Dios nos estaba llamando a hacer algo diferente. Honestamente, creíamos que nos llamaba a las misiones. En retrospectiva, creo que lo estaba haciendo, sólo que no de la manera en que lo imaginábamos.
Esta vez, nuestro «sí» nos llevó a lo que en ese momento era la capital del asesinato de los Estados Unidos
Ninguno de los dos deseaba plantar otra iglesia, pero la idea de hacer algo nuevo nos entusiasmaba. Así que, casi al final de nuestro período en CityLife, dejamos que la emoción de algo nuevo se gestara dentro de nosotros, aunque no teníamos ni idea de lo que se avecinaba.
Durante ese tiempo, sucedieron un par de cosas que Dios usó para hablar a nuestros corazones. La familia Vanartsdalen, amigos cercanos de CityLife, nos comunicaron que se mudarían para ayudar a plantar otra iglesia con la Biblia Abierta (lea más sobre su historia aquí). Mientras celebrábamos lo que Dios estaba haciendo con nuestros amigos, se reavivó dentro de nosotros un sentimiento que habíamos olvidado. (¡Nunca subestimes cómo tu «sí» puede afectar al de otra persona!). Esa sensación era la emoción y la urgencia espiritual que viene con la plantación de iglesias. Ni Mike ni yo esperábamos volver a sentir esto, y nos sorprendió descubrir el deseo en nuestros corazones de plantar otra iglesia.
Después de una conversación con nuestro director regional de la Biblia Abierta, Nathan Hagan, todo cambió. Cuando le contamos nuestro deseo inicial, comenzó a pensar en algunas opciones diferentes para que las consideráramos. A ambos nos sorprendió esta idea: «Si ustedes estuvieran interesados en plantar otra iglesia en la región, tal vez podría ser en algún lugar como Nueva Orleans». Aunque Nathan mencionó otros lugares, el único que recordamos es el que se nos clavó enseguida en el corazón. Nueva Orleans: ¡se pronunció la palabra, y el Espíritu respondió!
Desde el comienzo de nuestro matrimonio, Mike y yo decidimos que diríamos «sí» a cualquier cosa que Dios nos llamara a hacer. Esta vez, nuestro «sí» nos llevó a lo que en ese momento era la capital del asesinato de los Estados Unidos: Nueva Orleans, Luisiana. Resulta sumamente difícil desarraigar a tu familia y tu vida, mudarte a cientos de kilómetros de distancia a un lugar donde no hay familia, amigos ni seguridad. A pesar de estos retos, decidimos vender muchas de nuestras pertenencias, cargamos lo que pudimos en un camión y un remolque, ¡y partimos hacia lo desconocido!
Tan pronto como comenzamos a trabajar, nos dimos cuenta de que esta ciudad, esta plantación y este llamado serían diferentes de todo lo que habíamos hecho hasta entonces. Casi inmediatamente después de mudarnos, nos enfrentamos con un triple homicidio a cuatro casas de la nuestra, me asaltaron violentamente a mano armada y apuntaron a nuestros hijos con un revólver mientras jugaban al aire libre en nuestro barrio. Tuvimos que hacer frente a circunstancias de las que la mayoría de la gente supondría que huiríamos, pero cuando sabes que el Señor te ha llamado a una tierra, tienes que confiar en que te protegerá y te hará prosperar en ella. El sufrimiento es parte del llamado; si no estamos dispuestos a sufrir por el llamado, no participaremos de toda su bendición. «En cambio, alégrense mucho, porque estas pruebas los hacen ser partícipes con Cristo de su sufrimiento, para que tengan la inmensa alegría de ver su gloria cuando sea revelada a todo el mundo.» (1 Pedro 4:13, NTV).
Volvamos atrás, cuando supimos definitivamente que nos íbamos a mudar, Mike se sentó con nuestros hijos y les pidió que le ayudaran a elaborar una lista de oración de las personas que «soñábamos» que formaran parte de nuestro equipo. Algunos de los nombres en la lista fueron guiados por el Espíritu, otros eran candidatos, pero todos eran personas que pensamos que podrían estar lo suficientemente locas como para considerar mudarse con nosotros.
Antes de mudarnos a Carolina del Norte para plantar nuestra primera iglesia, les habíamos dicho a nuestros amigos Greg y Tina que sentíamos que ellos debían ir con nosotros. Creo que Greg se rio de Mike cuando compartimos esto por primera vez, ¡pero ahora son los pastores de CityLife! De forma similar, teníamos otra pareja amiga en Ohio con la que nos comunicábamos por videochat mientras nos preparábamos para plantar la iglesia en Nueva Orleans. Les contamos que nos íbamos a mudar y les pedimos que consideraran orar para unirse a nosotros. Estuvieron de acuerdo en orar, ¡pero estoy seguro de que pensaron que estábamos locos!
Tuvimos que hacer frente a circunstancias de las que la mayoría de la gente supondría que huiríamos, pero cuando sabes que el Señor te ha llamado a una tierra, tienes que confiar en que te protegerá y te hará prosperar en ella.
Es asombroso ver cómo Dios trabaja en las vidas de las personas, moviendo sus corazones para ser parte de algo que requiere una cantidad increíble de fe. Ya han pasado dos años, y el pastor Eric y Lindsay Baker están en Nueva Orleans con nosotros poniendo sus manos en el arado. Se mudaron de un pueblo pequeño a una de las ciudades más desenfrenadas del mundo. Ellos y sus siete hijos dieron su «sí» al Señor, dejando todo lo que habían conocido. En dos ocasiones les han robado el vehículo y, sin embargo, aquí siguen. Además de los Baker, Dios nos envió a otra persona que estaba en nuestra lista de sueños/oración sin que ni siquiera tuviéramos que pedírselo; la madre de Mike, Lynne, se unió al equipo y ¡ahora vive justo al lado de nosotros!
Ahora, estamos muy emocionados de ver lo que Dios está haciendo en OHR City Church. «Ohr» es la palabra hebrea para «luz», y también significa «poner orden en medio del caos» (¡tan apropiado para esta ciudad!). Aunque casi nada ha salido como pensábamos, creemos que todo está saliendo exactamente como Dios lo diseñó.
En la actualidad nos reunimos todos los domingos por la noche en nuestra casa donde comemos, adoramos, soñamos, oramos y estudiamos juntos la Palabra de Dios. ¡Mientras que los adultos se reúnen en nuestra casa, los niños van a la casa de Mamá Lynne al lado! Nuestro equipo está creciendo, y todos nos estamos convirtiendo en una familia. Ninguno de nosotros sabe exactamente a dónde nos ha de llevar el Señor, ¡pero todos estamos dispuestos a descubrirlo!
¡Si sientes que Dios te está llamando a emprender algo, te animo a que des un paso de fe y le des tu «sí» a Dios!
Sobre la Autora
Cala Dickey
Mike y Cala Dickey son los pastores principales de la más reciente iglesia plantada por la Región Sureste de la Biblia Abierta, OHR City Church, en Nueva Orleans, Luisiana. Antes de ir al bayou, Mike y Cala plantaron CityLife Church en Wilmington, Carolina del Norte. Les apasiona ser pioneros y plantar iglesias en áreas que necesitan desesperadamente a Jesús. ¡La familia Dickey está emocionada por lo que Dios está haciendo a través de OHR City Church en Nueva Orleans! Para más información, visite Ohrcc.com.
In 2017, my husband Dyecol and I were asked to be the interim pastors of Word of Life Open Bible Church in Lehigh Acres, Florida. Little did we know that our two weeks as interim pastors would turn into seven years and counting. After accepting the call to be the permanent pastors, we moved to Lehigh in September, right after Hurricane Ivan had hit. There was no electricity in the city, and it felt like we were moving into darkness and chaos. I didn’t realize we were also moving into the rest of our lives.
Dyecol and I had never had children together. Shortly after our move to Lehigh, we saw a billboard for an adoption agency. Dyecol went to the agency’s office for more information, and it wasn’t long before we were taking a class on adoption. The instructor of the class emphasized how much greater our chances would be to adopt through fostering, and pretty soon we got our first call to foster a three-year-old girl named Isabella. I will never forget seeing that scared little girl walk through our doorway. I scooped her up in my arms, she laid her head on my shoulder, and my future was sealed.
We’d had Isabella for only a month when we got a call for a second little girl, Maria. Maria’s sister Ruby would join her a few months later, and not long after Ruby, we got a call for a fourth child, our first newborn. This baby was only six days old and had been born addicted to drugs. We were told her parents didn’t want her, and we became excited that this baby might become ours. We attached, weaned her off drugs, and she began to thrive. It was then that her biological father decided that he wanted her. As difficult as this was, it was further complicated by the fact that our hopes of adopting the other girls fell through around the same time. We were shattered. This taste of parenthood had convinced me that I wanted to be a mom again, but fostering was too difficult. I told myself, “Never ever again!” Until I got the next call.
Sometimes God walks you through a process of loss and then He dumps blessing on you when you least expect it.
“Ms. Walker, I have a little girl for you….”
“I don’t know, we’re taking a break.”
“Ms. Walker, I’m telling you, you’re going to want this little girl.”
(Deep Breath.) “Okay.”
Our case worker brought over this ten-year-old little girl with big old grandma glasses, fuzzy hair, and the cutest smile. That little girl walked into our lives, and she has changed us forever. Her name is Anna-Tae Walker, and she became our first adopted daughter. Two months later, we were introduced to our daughter Heavenly. We loved her from the moment we saw her. Sometimes you just know. I said to my husband, “She’s not leaving.” True to my word, Heavenly AND her brother Joshua became ours through adoption.
Sometimes God walks you through a process of loss and then He dumps blessing on you when you least expect it. I didn’t understand why we couldn’t have the first little girls we tried to adopt, but God said no. He knew who our kids were.
Despite my having three adopted children, I continued to take new placements. My first experiences fostering almost broke me, but as I continued to say “yes” to each new child, God reinforced my heart with His strength. Instead of shrinking with each loss, my heart grows bigger as I watch family reunifications. God has gifted me with the capacity to love and to lose.
One night as I was lying on my bed, the Lord gave me a word: “Walker’s House of Hope.” I told my husband, “This is what we’re going to name the house where we raise the children God brings to us.” We started praying, “Lord, if you give us a bigger house we will take more children.” At that time, we had seven children in a three-bedroom house. It wasn’t long before the Lord provided us with a four-bedroom house.
God has gifted me with the capacity to love and to lose.
I got the call almost immediately: “Ms. Walker, we have a sibling group of three.”
“You know I have seven children, right?”
“Yes, Ms. Walker, but you were born for this.”
Immediately the voice of the Lord came to me, reminding me of my prayer. He had given me a bigger house; I was obligated to fulfill my promise. So, we ran out and bought another bunk bed.
Today, we have ten children: three adopted and seven fostered. Every day after school, I hear ten voices at once, beautiful chaos. Each time I say aloud, “I have ten children,” I can’t believe it – not because it’s too much, but because it feels comfortable. When I dream about the future, I see myself with even more children, running around a big property and coming in to eat dinner around our huge kitchen table. I have found my calling, and I am believing for God to gift us with the house that’s as big as my heart.
I had a sign made that hangs in our current home: “Walker’s House of Hope.” When I look at it, I say to God, “This is not it. But this is it for now.”
Seven years ago, we moved to a city that was in chaos and darkness. Today, we live in a home of chaos and light. And as I look around my busy kitchen table, I have never been more excited about the rest of my life.
About the Author
Taneasha Walker
Taneasha Walker is currently co-pastoring Word of Life Open Bible Church in Lehigh Acres, Florida, with her husband Dyecol. She serves on the Southeast Regional Board as an At- Large member. Taneasha has gained experience in every area of ministry, using this knowledge to effectively care for the local church body as well as the children that have been entrusted to her. She is passionate about prayer, utilizing it in every endeavor. In her free time, Taneasha’s hobbies include reading, singing, and traveling.
