To begin. I haven't ever shared this experience I had because it is so personal, but I feel it is time to share it because we need people to intercede and step up for these children. Whether in prayer or in the physical by giving your time and love.
When Joshua was just a few months old or so I had a very real dream. I dreamed DHR took him away from me for no reason. There were witnesses who falsely accused me of things that weren't true and DHR believed them. In my dream I remember still the torment, pain, and agony of not having him. I don't know why I had this dream exactly and can't say God gave it to me but I do know He used it either way to plant a seed in me to love and pray for children in need.
In the dream I discovered the foster parents who got Joshua were hurting him in a bad way and not feeding him like he needed. I remember just gnawing my teeth in horror and felt so crazy because I was so distraught. I tried everything to get to my baby.
I woke up thankful this was a dream and went and got my baby and held him a long time. Thanking and praising God!
Over the next few weeks God would very strongly call me to pray for women who had lost their child by varies reasons. They include DHR wrongly taken them, death, kidnapping situations and women who discovered their child had been sexual abused and physically abused. God would call me to intercede at night with Joshua in my arms still after I had rocked him to sleep. I would think of these women who couldn't rock their child to sleep and how they indeed felt so distraught and in agony wondering how their children were. I began also praying that God would move where sexual offenders would be discovered if they would continue in hurting others. (I had prayed for them to be healed and to have a heart change.) Over the next weeks on the news I would see how God moved indeed with many sexual offenders being discovered and arrested.
My season to pray was over and up until this summer when a girl I know lost her child to DHR due to her own personal situation which gave me a desire to help, which led to me being apart of some really awesome small groups who minister to youth girls at Hill Crest.
Here recently, I had forgotten the dream until the lady I help with Bible Study at Hill Crest mentioned the children at Hill Crest. I was amazed to find out they were as young as 4. I can't imagine how they must feel being in this place without the love of a parent to tuck them in bed at night, to read books, to pray over them, kiss their boo boos, hug them when they need encouragement. I also can't dare to think of what they were going through either. This brought life back to my dream after 3 years.
Yesterday I went to Hill Crest and met with the children. They totally captured my heart. They desire so much of the things we take for granted. I sang songs with them and left. As I was leaving this little girl who wasn't much bigger than my own child who was very agitated because she just arrived her second time and I could see very distraught asked me to take her home please. It totally broke my heart. I did want to take her home. To read her a story and make her some hot chocolate and tell her Jesus loves you so much and you are so special but of course I couldn't.
I do plan to start going to be with these children and let them know that God does care and so do I. I am not sure how I will be able to go because of childcare and so forth but I know God put this in my heart and He will fulfill what He started.
If I could say anything it would be ... be quick to read that book to your children or stop and hold them because time flies so fast and opportunities pass.
Pray for these children. Pray hard! They need us to.
