just a little change...

I’m sorry for not posting a lot this semester. Things have been busy at work and in our lives. I’m sorry! I hope to be able to post more through summer. With that being said there is a new person I need to introduce you to! She has been on the blog before, but our lives have taken a turn and I want you to know her!

Before I introduce you to her, I need to explain a little bit about what God has been challenging me with the past 2 months. At the beginning of the year, January and February(ish), I was struggling. I longed to be going on a mission trip, going back to Uganda, doing something other than sitting in an office. I was starting to resent my job because of the late nights working, struggling with different things about my job, and not spending much time with the hubs.

At Easter my pastor gave a message that encouraged me. He was explaining to us that we read the bible, we see the gospel, we celebrate it and then we stop. We don’t take action unless it’s what we want. (That last part was really my paraphrase, but it’s what I got out of the sermon.) I began to think about my life and challenge myself to find Christ where I was, whether in sitting at my desk talking on the phone for hours or meeting with students. I started to see God all around me and my heart was changing.

Through these past months He has been reminding me to invest in people, invest in their lives, spend time just loving them. How quickly we, or maybe just I forget, how we can be Jesus to people by loving them the way he loves us! I knew a change was coming. Every week we drove away from church and I told Jeremy “God is preparing us for something.” Little did I know what that would be.So… meet Kiera.

Right after graduation

Some of you know her and some of you do not. I met Kiera 4 years ago at Columbia College. I helped her come to Columbia College because her counselor at the time (my lovely friend in the pink) was out on maternity leave. She was one of the very first students I helped in my job. After the started CC she began to visit me and we would engage in conversations about everything, including Jesus. I have seen her grow into an incredibly, lovely Godly woman. I have cried and rejoiced over this girl and what God has done in her life over the past 4 years. It's been a blessing to watch!

On Saturday I had the priviledge of watching her graduate from CC. Without thinking, I went through the day like a normal graduation day: watching her walk across the stage, grab her diploma and bible, meeting family and friends. I couldn’t have been more proud. We went to her dinner and that’s when our lives changed. Not to make it sound dramatic, but it kind of was.

What you don’t know is that Kiera has had a tough life. I’m able to share this with everyone because she allowed it. I think it’s important to know how God works when we don’t expect Him to. After our dinner Kiera was literally left orphaned in the parking lot. The family she was with decided not to take her back to Texas where they lived, where she had bought a ticket to go and sent all of her belongings. This happened in front of a few of Kiera’s friends and other family members... and me. No one took a stand for her and I instantly knew that this is what God had prepared me for.

The reason for this post is to have your support through prayer and because I think you should know what’s going on in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Dickerson. We call her our daughter. I even took her to a birthday party and explained to the children that she was my daughter and introduced her to my mom, her Lela. Our goal? To show her the grace, mercy, and love that Christ has showed us in our lives and to follow Him through all of this… after all, this is what He had planned for us!

Meeting my mom

I can’t imagine living the life she’s lived. If only you knew more of it. This is just a small dose of what Kiera has been dealing with in her 22 years of life! I told Jeremy the other night that we grew up poor, but God has surely put my life and his life into perspective by knowing the life Kiera has lived.

 So now she lives with us. This is why there was no Africa, no mission trips, and the message that God was preparing us for something different. We are trying to get her on our feet and accepting this obvious call from God to be her caretakers. 

We didn’t expect this at all. We hope that you will pray for me and Jeremy as we care for Kiera. I hope you'll join with us in praying for Kiera as she adjusts to this new life and seeks to understand where God wants her to be. I joked with Kiera that when I prayed over our dinner Saturday, and I prayed about God guiding her every step of her life, I didn’t realize it would mean her next step was into my home!

We love you, Kiera! We are excited about what God is doing!