Ebonee is a beautiful child and I am thankful Steve introduced her to the congregation on Sunday.  I am also thankful for Kim and for the work she does as a foster parent.  We are all saddened to think about how hard it must be to give up this child she has nurtured as if she were her own, as Ebonee returns to live with her family.

As hard as it is to think about the pain of handing over a child into an uncertain world, there is also cause for celebration.  Not so long ago there
was another woman painfully giving up this same child for very different reasons.  There was no less pain in that separation, and in order for this mother to be reunited with Ebonee there had to be a significant change demonstrated in the life of the mother.  Consider the struggle this mother has
endured to go from a life unfit for a child, to one where she is demonstrating the ability to provide a sustainable, healthy environment for herself and Ebonee. That represents a huge shift, a tremendous amount of work, and a reason to rejoice. But we rejoice with just a bit of hesitation.  In the world of those with substance issues, only a mere 15% actually completely recover, meaning 85% end their lives still trapped in their disease.  

We can't know if Ebonee's mother is going to be one of the 15% and we won't know for a long time.  Here is what we do know:  we know she has worked through a recovery program and has demonstrated a commitment to recover.  We can reasonably expect she has gone through a 12 step program calling on the person to accept a "higher power".  In our PC world we can't say "give your life to God," but that is fundamentally what accepting a higher power means, although there are certainly some new age types who give their lives to some undefined power of the universe.  What we also know is it is nearly impossible for a person to just walk away from addiction.  An addiction must be replaced with something else, something positive and most often it is a
"higher power".  

In the case of Ebonee we can join in prayer that two things are happening.  We can pray that her mother has accepted the Lord and acceptance is what is fueling the change.  We can also pray Ebonee is a catalyst, a daily reminder of the need to stick close to God and the tools this woman learned in recovery, to stay in recovery and give this beautiful child a mother of whom she can be proud.

John Chavez