FOSTER CARE 20 april 2025 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition As I am writing this, we’re inching closer and closer to Easter, and with that I’ve been thinking a lot about the “in-between.” Like a lot of you, I have spent my entire life in church, so the Easter message is one I know well and can count on year after year. We know the darkness of Good Friday, and the sting of death – we’ve likely reckoned with our own sin and the brokenness of this world that led Jesus to that cross. And, of course, we know Sunday, we know Sunday so well! The power and salvation that comes from that empty tomb is what has changed each of our individual lives and eternity forever. Because of how momentous Friday and Sunday can be, we can so easily skip over the in-between. That in-between feels a lot like the work I see and am a part of every day here at 4KIDS. It’s that relentless pursuit of resurrection that I see our staff and families running toward each day. The relentless pursuit of resurrection The in-between days and the in-between seasons we’ve all experienced in life require unrelenting hope and tireless faith. It’s hard to go to those places of despair; to hold faith that the darkness can be transformed to joy. In the Easter story there were women who did just that, when Mary and others went to care for Jesus’ body. At the time they likely could have never imagined an empty tomb; they were imagining death, hopelessness and loneliness to be waiting for them that day – but they went anyway. They went to care for the body of Jesus in relentless obedience and in deep devotion, even though they didn’t see how things could change. It was in the in-between that Jesus himself was relentlessly pursuing the hope of our future – this was simultaneously happening on the other side of heaven even while many were losing faith here on earth, wondering how Jesus could possibly return. These are the moments where it feels like the story is over, but it’s not. Because we know what happens next! In Mark 16:4-7 we read, “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” “Just as he told you,” all of our hope hangs on his goodness. The in-between is carried by his promises to us, and even when we don’t see how the story could possibly end, we can count on him time and time again. Standing with kids in the in-between We’re closing in on May, which is National Foster Care Month for 4KIDS, and it’s a big season that I hope you’ll begin to prepare your heart for. There are kids right now who just endured the pain and despair of Friday, and they’re stuck in the in-between. When a vulnerable child is in crisis, I can tell you from first-hand experience, this is one of the darkest places you could ever witness. This is an often invisible and isolating place; it is covered in darkness and despair just like the tomb where Jesus laid. It takes relentless pursuit on our part to meet them in that fearful uncertainty and to step out in faith that their story isn’t finished. If you’re facing your own in-between right now, know that I am standing with you in relentless faith and unmoving belief that God is relentlessly pursuing you right now. I pray that you meet him in a personal and powerful way. For more information on 4KIDS of South Florida, visit 4kids.us The In-Between - Andrew Holmes - 4KIDS President
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