“A shared joy is twice a blessing, and a shared sorrow is half a burden.”
I have seen “shared joy” happen again and again in church as well as in our family. I remember when our children were growing up and we would rejoice and be so happy for little victories. When they did well in school with their grades, we rewarded them. When they played sports and scored a goal or made a good shot we cheered. I remember one basketball game when our son, Patrick, was playing and his dad was the coach. As the clock ticked to 0:00, Patrick threw the ball from half-court and the ball went through the hoop as the buzzer sounded! We all cheered, even though we lost the game.
We also share our burdens with each other. They may include the loss of a friend, struggling with a class at school, or decisions that will affect our lives. Recently, our second daughter, Monica, and her husband, Jesse, adopted two children from Bulgaria. The sister (age 12) and brother (age 8) know very little English. They just arrived in the US a short time ago. They are facing many new things; scary things, and many unknown things. It is okay. As a family we share both the victories as well as the challenges. We have already seen God do amazing things. Just as we were adopted into God’s family, these two precious ones were adopted into the Goins’ family. God chose them to care for these two children going through life without hope. We desire to share with them the story of hope and grace that only Jesus can give. We know God will do amazing things.
As God picked Ronnie Rice up and placed him in a Christian family, we are praying that God will also do amazing things with these two precious children that have been placed in our family. It is a joy to share this amazing story with you.
