God moments.

Moments when we know without a shadow of a doubt that we are in the right place, at the right time, doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing.  The moment God’s call is securely fixed within our spirit and soul and no matter what or how long it lasts, we are assured it exists and is very real.

A moment like that occurred for me earlier this year—it was late January or February.

We’d attended a Night of Worship at Central Christian Church, three residents and me.  We’d gotten back to the house, and they wanted to continue.  One song led to another until a precious resident asked if I’d heard of Michael Ketterer.  “No,” I said.

This resident looked up his audition from America’s Got Talent.  It contained parts of him and his wife’s story about adopting special needs children; he’s a pediatric mental health nurse.  His words struck me at my core, “My family is why I am here.  My wife and my 6 children.  When you are surviving, you can’t dream.”  He was speaking of his adopted children when they were in foster care.  “That has been one of the most rewarding things, providing them with a home and a safe environment where they are free to dream.”

He proceeded to sing the song, To Love Somebody, by Michael Bolton.  The chorus moved something so significant and deep inside me.  I can only describe what I experienced in this way.  The unseen force of what I know to be the Holy Spirit marked and sealed something in my heart and soul that no one else can see or possibly fully know.

I was by myself sitting at the kitchen table behind everyone, watching this precious resident sway to the music.  All I could do was weep.  It was that red-eyed, gut wrenching, extremely quiet and personal weep that no one else would understand because it’s a moment between you and your Creator.

“Baby, you don’t know what it’s like,

Baby, you don’t know what it’s like,
To love somebody,

To love somebody,
The way I love you.”

“Oh, the way that I love you,

And no, you’ll never know,

You’ll never, ever, ever, know,

Just the way that I love you, oh the way that I love you.”

“Baby, you don’t know what it’s like,
Baby, you don’t know what it’s like.”

In that moment, the recognition of the love that God has put in my heart for women seeking healing and restoration was so overwhelming.  They are my family, and they are why I am here.  When they are surviving, they can’t dream.  They are my adopted children through Christ.  It IS one of the most rewarding things, providing them with a home and a safe environment where they are free to dream.

God put his love for them in my heart.  It is a love that is not of me.  It is this love that sustains me through every difficult time as this vision continues to come into being.

That night as I was having this moment, I saw the words, “all for her.” They peacefully drifted from what I believe is the heavens, and they rested on my forearm.  “All for her.”  “All for her.”  Yes, indeed.  Everything I have done since April of 2019 has been, “all for her.”  Knowing God has ordained all of my days, my whole life has been “all for her.”

And I am praying and believing for all of you whom he is sending, to be “all for her” with me.

I couldn’t think of a more fitting title for our blog and hashtag.

Welcome to “All for her.”