We will soon be coming up on day number 365 that our youngest daughter has been home with us.

As I reflect on life over the past 365 days, the goodness of my Father has been over whelming.

Let me start with John 16:33:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

You might be thinking, “well ok, you said goodness of God, but now you give a scripture about trouble.”

Exactly. These two facts, my Father’s goodness and the trouble of this world co-exist. They co-exist because my Father knows we need His help. His goodness.

The question is, are we willing to see it. Accept it. Live in it, despite the trouble.

It was May of 2021 when my bride and I decided to adopt. This process literally took 25 months and tens of thousands of dollars. Many of those dollars provided by you and many people we don’t even know.

The twenty five months and money was trouble. Both were hard to deal with and live through. But my Father’s goodness provided the peace in His perfect timing, and he provided a beautiful community that prayed and gave financially to cover all the expenses.

We needed to be in Thailand for three weeks. 19 days to be precise. Our biological daughter would have been able to go, but this would be the ONLY time our adopted daughter would be able to have us to herself. We decided to allow that time, even though it meant leaving our other daughter behind for a horribly long time. Sacrifice is hard. Sacrifice can be trouble if we let it. But my Father provided the way through my beautiful in-laws, who kept our daughter while we were in Thailand bringing our youngest daughter home. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. It hurt.

But knowing that our adopted daughter was born for us; that she was created in her mother’s womb for our family, is my Father’s goodness. Knowing that my daughters have each other is my Father’s goodness. Knowing we saved our adopted daughter from a life a slavery to the system, is my Father’s goodness.

Almost right from the start of our time in Thailand our dog began diminishing. Our dear friend who was watching over our farm, had to deal with so very much. Three weeks of trouble. A struggling animal in need of major medical help, and never at a “good” time. The vet bills over three weeks were about three thousand dollars. Trouble in a lot of ways for many people.

It was the day we were traveling home when we got the call one of our farm animals was down. Sick. Dying. We were on a lay over in Tokyo. She died and needed buried. Trouble for sure.

My Father provided us a community that was ready and willing to stand in the gap and handle this for us and buried her. People literally just showed up to help. Friends and neighbors. It was beautifully hard.

We were home two days and needed to put our dog to sleep. He was so bad off. We had him as a 12 week old pup. He was now nine. He wasn’t supposed to go yet. But he wasn’t supposed to struggle like he was either. It was time.

In the midst of the joy of bringing our daughter home after 25 months we had to deal with the loss of two animals. But our daughter was home, and our family reunited. My Father’s goodness.

It was a couple months later we had another sheep go down. She died and we needed to bury her. She was one of our first animals. We raised her as a lamb. Trouble.

But my Father’s goodness prevailed through our beautiful community. We now had one sheep who needs a companion. Our community provided just that. My Father’s goodness.

My beautiful mom passes away. She was in her nineties. Trouble. Oh how I loved my mom and miss her so much.

My Father’s goodness provided her a faith she took hold of and lived out. She is in a much better place now and my Father told me; “Her room was ready.” John 14:3 My Father’s goodness.

Enter our new season. We are now approaching our daughter being home 365 days. We were celebrating what is called our “gotcha day.” This is the day we took custody of our daughter. We traveled to Portland Oregon to visit our adopted daughter’s best friend who was adopted at the exact same time we adopted as well. We spent our entire time with this family in Thailand. They are now family.

Our bio daughter has a medical event during a lay over to Portland. Pretty scary. She’s fine. My Father provided a doctor immediately. He evaluated her and assured us she would be fine. And she is.

While we were away our freezer quit. We lost all of our meat from 2024. Chicken. Lamb. Pork. Roughly about $1500 dollars worth of food we raised. Trouble! My Father’s goodness provided the community of friends to clean everything up and get it disposed of for us.

In this life you will have trouble. But we have a Father who is good. Who loves us. Who will take care of us, if we let Him. Jesus has overcome the world!

Psalm 91:1 speaks about taking shelter in the Lord. Some translations say it’s a secret place. It is in this place we find peace. We find trust. We find goodness.

Outside of this place is the world, and yes there is beauty. There are “good” things. But the world’s goodness in no way measures up to the eternal goodness of our Father.

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33

Trouble is inevitable. The world is broken. My Father in His goodness, provided a way through Christ, to make things right.

A relationship with Christ is the start. Learning about Him. Following Him. Growing more like Him, is the goodness.