Completion...from the heart of a cottage parent

Written by Rachel Reed, Cottage Parent, Broyhill Home

Ding, dong. The cottage doorbell rings as eight children scurry around inside. "Mrs. Rachel, someone is at the door!" Who could it be?

It's you! Welcome to our cottage. As you enter, you may hear lots of little feet moving, you may smell cookies baking, or you may very likely hear me say, "Don't forget to put that away when you're done." From this single instruction, you may sense my greatest desire as a cottage parent. It may be similar to a desire that any person, parent or not, feels. Perhaps it is the greatest desire in all of our hearts?

It can be summed up in one word — completion.

We may not consciously consider the idea of completion each day, but I assert it is what we long for. As a cottage parent, I long for the children in our care to complete a task all the way. I find myself daily passing out verbal reminders to close kitchen cabinets after grabbing a water cup, to turn bedroom lights off, and to put away toys when they are finished playing. My desire for an orderly cottage comes out so often that our cottage kids joke with each other: "I hope you remembered to push your chair up before Mrs. Rachel sees it." The idea that a task is complete and things look tidy just brings me joy!

As I consider this, the hearts of the children in our care also long for completion. Maybe they are not as concerned with chairs being pushed up, clothes being in the hamper, and doors being closed. Their own longing for completion is far greater than mine. These children are longing for their parents to complete their plan so they can return home.

They want the adoption they've heard talked about for so long to finally be complete—signed by a judge and a new life begun in a forever home. They want to know completely whether or not a family member will become an option for permanent placement rather than living the in-between, waiting. They want their pain gone, as we all do. They want completion.

This is where the greatest news we can offer ourselves and the children in our care enters. We have been given a hope and a promise of completion one day! It is good for our cottage kids to know that despite the brokenness of the world we live in—the pain, the shattered pieces of life—we can grasp the hope of a perfect, complete life with Jesus! As cottage parents, my husband and I encourage the children we care for to turn to Jesus and receive the gift He's given. His promises are true, and beyond what we can fathom while we are in this world. To have something so profound to look forward to is the only way we are able to do this work and pour into our kids. We remind them often that there will be no broken homes in Heaven, no waiting on parents to show up to a longed-for visit, and no lack of completion!

One of my favorite songs and my recent anthem is "Homesick for Heaven" by Phil Wickham. When pondering finally being there and reaching that completion, the song's words encourage me: "I'll run as fast as I can into Your arms 'cause I was created to be where You are. There's an ache in my heart, I'm homesick for Heaven."

I love this picture so much. We are finally where we were created to be—with Jesus.

We cannot forget the truth that we can live in that completion even now. Although our circumstances consistently bring us pain, the salvation we have in believing in Christ's completion on the cross allows us to live in that completion today—even here in this broken place. This gives us, as cottage parents, such an opportunity to display God's grace for the children we care for.

As for me, the hope I've found in Christ and the completion I will receive one day encourages me to pour grace into our kids through every unfinished task, every chair left unpushed, every light left on, and yes, even every toilet left unflushed. Do I do this perfectly? During these few minutes visiting our cottage tells you there are moments I have clay feet. However, I trust God to sanctify my heart and I pray this is evident to our children.

I long for the children placed in our cottage to trust Jesus for this completion and to know they are living the entirety of their lives with the promise of being with the One who created them. Imagine the satisfaction our hearts will feel when there is no more pursuing completion!