The Heart's Capacity

Our little silver sedan fell silent this morning as we drove home with one less boy. The only audible sounds were those of the tears hitting our cheeks and noses sniffling. It's true, when the alarm clock sounded this morning, I rolled over and said to myself, "I don't want to do this day". This morning Clement began his journey back home to France.

When the boys and I returned home, I broke the silence with a request to gather together in the living room. I hugged them tightly and told them how proud I am of them. They didn't hold back their tears... Not even with the crowds that surrounded them in that parking lot. I shared with them that I have learned during these past three weeks about the capacity of my own heart, as well as theirs. We all gave of ourselves more than one hundred percent. We fell in love with this young man from a small village in the middle of France. He was gifted to us, I believe, to show us exactly what the human heart is capable of. He was only here for three weeks, but in that short amount of time we came to love him as one of our own. He shared himself with us in this same way. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why he became one of us so quickly.

It became almost an expected thing to spend every evening sitting together in the living room and sharing life and lots of laughter. He told us that his family in France is on the quiet side. Those of you who know us well know that we are anything BUT quiet! I think when Clement gets home his family will see another side of him. I pray that they enjoy this side of him as much as we did, and that Clement always feels the same comfort of being himself and bringing about laughter like he did here.

Through the tears that continue to find their way down my face I am thanking God for this experience. All five of us have learned so much about God's design for our hearts and how he desires us to love others. We have learned how to effectively share life... Without holding back.

France is oceans away. The love that we now share with our "french son" makes the distance seem so much shorter though. The loose change is already being thrown into the big vacation jar so that we can make our first journey out to France. Our goal is to make it out there for his high school graduation. That is only two years away, but I know that God will provide.

He gave us Clement, and He will continue to see us through each other's lives.