Foster Care is NOT Easy – Do it Anyway

My family jumped into the foster care arena in the spring of 2012.  After finishing classes, we waited until August to officially go on the list, and got placed almost immediately with a 4 day old boy.  We still have him, and have also fostered a newborn girl for a week, as well as another boy from birth to 7 weeks before he was placed with his siblings.   I’d like to tell you it has been easy.  I’d like to tell you that everyone involved will always tell you the truth.  I’d like to tell you that the system is all about the kids.  But I can’t.  To be honest, there are going to be times that you are going to question, “Why in the world does this mom get a 2^nd chance?”  There are going to be times that people are going to say things like, “We are for the best interest of the child”, and it’s going to be apparent to you that they are not thinking that way.  There are going to be times when friends and family are going to openly question you as to why you are doing this, particularly if you have children of your own.  You may even hear the question, “Don’t you care about your kids enough to not put them through this?”   It is not easy.  But do it anyway.  Why?  Because foster care, no matter how jacked up everyone else may seem about it, is never about you.  As the foster parent/family, it IS about the child…and as a follower of Christ, it’s about a higher calling.  Most Christians are familiar with James 1:27 – religion that is pure involves taking care of orphans and widows.  The reality is that for a season, sometimes short and sometimes long, these kids are orphans.  They need a good home.  They need a safe home.  They need a season of love, that only God can use 5, 10, 15 years down the road in their lives to remind them He is real.  It is not easy…but what about following God is?  Hebrews 11 lists a whole boatload of people whose lives were never easy, some even unto their death, yet they followed God with total abandonment of their own comfort.  Foster care is not easy – do it anyway.  

Interested in adoption or fostering a child? Attend Family Matters “Foster & Adoptive Parenting Conference” – Click HERE for more information.