Dear Arguing Humans,
I have a couple questions for you.
- Are you currently housing a human being who would otherwise be homeless?
- Are you willing to?
- Are you willing to, no questions ask?
Okay, now to level the playing field, I will answer.
- I am currently housing a human being who might otherwise be homeless.
- I am willing to welcome more.
- I have a lot of questions first.
Now, to those of you who know me, you know I am a firm believer in Jesus Christ. I am also an eager participant in foster care and adoption. However, if I called you and said:
There are two adolescent boys in desperate need of a home. They both have a history of violence and are suspected sex offenders of their young toddler brothers. We are going to invite them to stay with us. We want to behave as Christians.
You would have a few questions for me. Can you afford to do this? What about Sam and Charlie? Is this the safest way to be helpful?
No. It isn’t.
Friends, my heart is breaking for Syrian refugees too. But there are processes that must be considered. There just are. And if there aren’t processes to protect and you freely believe that all are welcome, stop locking your doors. You that have teenage daughters, do you know how many teenage boys are in foster care in the United States? Why are you not inviting them into your home? Especially you Christians who are condemning other Christians for wanting closed borders?
Let them in. Let them come live with you.
No?
Why? Oh, you want to protect your daughter?
In our foster agency, there are certain rules and regulations that must be followed in order to foster. It takes into consideration the totality well-being of the foster family. Common sense must dictate open arms and open borders. Jesus was a common sense kind of guy. He was gentle, kind and wise.
Our hearts need to be open to helping, but not at all costs. You would protect your family before you would let just anyone come into your home. Ask Elizabeth Smart’s family about their open door policy. Before you bark another word of ugliness at each other under the umbrella of Christianity and Godliness, ask them to tell you the story of picking up a man on the side of the road. They will tell you, caution is warranted. We need to be united in prayer for the safety and sanctity of our country and its leaders and we need to be united in prayer for how to handle our borders.
Calling each other names, criticizing each other and arguing isn’t an orderly method of solution.
Oh, and if you are not willing to open your home to an American child in need and you are barking an opinion I suggest you sit down, shut up and make a call to your local foster care program. It is right under your nose friends. Right under your nose.
Indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding. Proverbs 2:3
May your floors be sticky and YOUR CALLING ORDAINED. Love, Jami
sacredgroundstickyfloors 
Exactly!
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Hey. I see you’re still writing. Your pictures and reminiscences make me smile. Although my four sons and daughter are grown, I remember the antics of the little pyromaniacs all too well! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
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Hey! I am. Some days better than others. Happy thanksgiving to you too friend. ❤️
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I love this! Actually I love your blog because it seems we think a lot alike. But my friend and I were just discussing this last night. Great perspective on this hot topic.
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Thanks!
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Ah, but there is something between accepting any and all and accepting none. Have you closed your doors to all foster children simply because there are teenaged boys in the foster system who are sex offenders? No? How about closing your doors to all foster children of the same race or national origin as those boys? No? Why not?
The little boy on the beach. Would you have taken him in? Would you help him now? What about his mother? Would you have helped her, or would you be too afraid, because someone of her ethnicity is evil? There are more women and children than single men among the refugees. Would you condem them all over the actions of one? Remember Katrina? Did we have any assurance that everyone who fled New Orleans was “safe?” And yet we housed them.
Asking questions, accepting those that present a reasonable risk, those are rational actions. Accepting all or slamming that door shut, neither of those choices is rational.
Do you believe God loves Americans more than Syrians? Do you believe He cares about their abject suffering? Does God see men through our political borders, or does He call us to care for the human race? Who is your neighbor? Are you the teacher of the law walking by, or the good Samaritan?
I haven’t called anyone names over this issue. This is the first comment I’ve even made. But I have to admit that I was highly disappointed to read your words. And yes, I have provided a home to some who would not otherwise have one. And yes, I and many others I know would, indeed, be willing to house refugees. Not without questions, but I would open my home. I’m very glad I don’t live in a state where terror is winning its war.
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A process. My Facebook feed is filled with people saying we aren’t Christians without open borders. A process is what I was calling for. Screening. And, a call for unity through prayer and for people who have such strong opinions to put there money where their mouths are. And I have accepted different races and ages. I would accept a family. But we must have a process of how to do that safely. I am sorry you were disappointed in the post, and as always, I appreciate your comments, opinions, and thought provoking view. I accept it with prayerful humility that my eyes are open to what you put much thought into. Thank you Katie. Have a good day. Jami
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What I am seeing people say on Facebook is that we’re not behaving as Christians when we slam the door shut, not that it necessarily needs to be wide open. The memes and complaints I’m seeing are in reaction to the call to deny all refugees from Syria, which is what it appeared to me you are supporting (I’m glad you’re not!). I completely agree with you that we need a process. However, Gov. Christie (NJ) decalred that he wouldn’t even accept a toddler. Governor after governor has at least tried to slam that door shut. (Or, like the governor of AL, make a declaration to that effect even though there was never any plans to accept Syrian refugees in his state.) They are playing to fear and prejudice, mostly for political reasons, and in doing so they are playing right into the hands of the terrorists and calling for policy that, I do believe, does not follow Christ’s example. Of course I expected that you would foster children of different races and ages. That was my point. When we’re thinking rationally, we don’t exclude all people of a certain race, religion or national origin because of the actions of one person. We have a process. We ask the important questions. We help those in need, and we trust God with the rest.
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And these are things I must take to heart with a growing audience. In my feed I have seen people I know say we aren’t Christians with closed borders. People who have also said to me they could never foster because they afraid they’d get hurt… 😐
We should never be all or nothing, lead me Lord. It’s a scary time. And we need to be unified in prayer. Again, I always look forward from hearing from you & I think we have similar views. I think a lot of comments are based on fear. I did not know that about the governors. Ew.
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Thank you for helping me understand my own feelings. I keep reading blogs and wondering why I am not willing to sacrifice our safety, if maybe I’m not as strong in my faith as I thought. I turned to the bible and was reminded that our job is to LOVE one another, but that may look differently than what some are proposing. It may simply be hitting our knees and praying. And it takes a lot of courage to pray for our enemies to the God that has given us so much, to lift up people that we don’t understand or we don’t agree with or that don’t love us back. Thank you for confirming what I’ve been wondering about.
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EXACTLY! While we can’t just turn our back on the refugees but at the same time we can’t be foolish about the protection of our land, families and our country! Eluzabeth Smart said that she is the most over-protective mother on earth, and rightly so, she knows what monsters lurk behind trees and what things go bump in the night. ❤️
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OHHHHHH, You don’t know how much I wish I could share this every hour, of every day for at least the next week w/o seeming as if I’d gotten alzheimers 😉
THANK YOU ❤
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I just wrote this on FB and thought it might be somethig you’d appreciate;
“I’m just gonna repost this link to make another point:
We’re already helping out with the Syrian Refugee Crisis. . . we have been for a couple of years.
http://www.state.gov/j/prm/releases/remarks/2014/219388.htm
So, ya’ know, stop acting (or letting others make you feel) like individual governors saying “no” to *ONE, specific form of help* makes us a country of heartless, fear mongering, hateful, immoral people who aren’t doing anything to help the Syrain refugees or the countries that are taking the brunt of the impact.
I’m fully on board with taking a moment to look at that *one form of help*, and conclude that it- the way it is now- is a risk we’re not willing to take. And, no I don’t feel like that violates my Christian faith or causes me to be living outside its tenants.”
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Well said!
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I’m with you on this, Jami. It’s sad and unfortunate, but the awful reality is that we don’t always recognize the faces of our enemies until it’s too late.
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Yes. In a perfect world … Well, in a perfect world we would have any of this mess. 💔
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Well Cherie, I too think its difficult to recognize potential enemies; my problem: we sometimes shy away from serious recognition of how our past actions have contributed to the current crisis. This IN NO WAY justifies the terrorist activities by misled, evil people; It might help sincere people–and in my case fellow committed Christians–to unthread this web of confusion, which often warps into political division instead of serious reflection. I have been amazed that any suggestion that we may have caused some revenge is somehow a criticism of America in the minds of some folks! I have been particularly disappointed that it has become a political issue; terribly unkind remarks have been leveled against the president (some from fellow Christians who actually quote scripture…….!), liberally accessing blame and condemnation, especially when there was little or no justification! Now is the time to stop bickering among ourselves and work toward the right way to proceed. We might begin by reviewing what the Bible has to say about hospitality to strangers–which always has its risks–and move with caution, but also with resolve, to be united in an effort to be right.
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This is true. We are a faith divided. And social media is causing further division.
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Love your strong and convicting voice! Well said!! Visiting from #raralinkup!
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💜 heading over for a visit.
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Very well said. My dad used to say – ” don’t be so open minded your brains fall out.” It feels people aren’t using their heads now days.
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Love you for making me look at things just a bit differently…isn’t that what lifes all about??? Please keep it coming!!!
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❤️
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I tried taking a look at your blog with my cenlohple and the format does not seem to be correct. Might want to check it out on WAP as well as it seems most cellular phone layouts are not really working with your web page.
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