Drought Conditions

Our home state of Texas is under drought conditions.  It hasn't rained enough for a long time, and the water table is depleted.  Drought is not just a physical phenomenon of weather.  No, it is a delicate balance between water supply and demand.  Drought conditions occur when demands for water exceed the natural availability of water.

Relation between streams
and underground water

A=Gaining stream,
B= Losing stream,
C= Losing stream that is disconectes from the water table.

1= Water table;
2= Unsaturated zone;
3= Saturated zone ,
4=Flow direction



I was thinking about this yesterday and realized that our kids are living under drought conditions.  For far too long they have lived without the love and care that every child needs.  As a result, they look like Figure C.

What does this look like right now?  Extreme neediness, need for approval, impulsive behavior, emotional outbursts, disruptive behavior in school and church, fear of punishment for any mistake, insincere apologies, charming and manipulative behavior, hypersensitivity to my mood (with frequent misinterpretation), and more.  They have little basis for healthy human interaction.

Fortunately for us, they got enough love and care (at times from their birth mother and also from others in their lives) and are resilient enough that they still have some emotional ground water.  And that gives us hope that as we pour love, affection, time, attention, gifts, structure, discipline, and the love of Christ into their lives, the ground water level will rise and hopefully, eventually, resemble Figure A.

But that's just it.  We hope.  We don't know.  And how long?  We don't know.  At times it is incredibly frustrating.  Some days it appears impossible.  Our hearts break for the things they have seen and experienced.  

Other days are amazing, and we wonder how we doubted.  When we receive spontaneous hugs.  When we laugh together over something silly.  When we can see that they "get" something that we've been trying to teach.

It definitely is not easy.  We must always remember that we started down this path for a reason.  The reason hasn't changed.  We had no guarantee of ease.  We do not even know where the path is headed. All we know for sure is that it is the right path.

So for now, we live in drought.



This is the promise of God:  I will lead the blind by a road they do not know, by paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them. - Isaiah 42:16