Thursday, February 21, 2013

foster parenting is...

... clearing your schedule for an hour after your baby comes home from visiting her birth mom, because you know that she will be screaming the whole time, though her cries are assuaged a bit by being in your arms.


... getting frustrated enough with "the system" that you want to walk away... and then remembering that if you walk away, who else will care for all the little ones who did nothing to be placed into the broken system?


... realizing its more important to pray that the little ones in your home will join your eternal, spiritual family than that they will join your temporary, earthly family.


... remembering that i need jesus just as much as their birth parents do (and vice versa).


... enduring the obviously judgmental stares of strangers who are apparently thinking "don't you know there is a way to prevent that?" when they see you with four very young children.


... remembering that God's truth never changes when he says that children are a blessing, even as you sacrifice your body, time, sanity and life to care for them.


... trying to figure out the best answer to the question "are they all yours"? (can we define "yours" please?)


... being willing to risk everything to love someone who may never love you in return.


... wondering who this stranger is who moved into your house, who likes to scream their head off at 4am... and then remembering its jesus.


... seeing the raised eyebrows of the person asking questions about your two babies, knowing that they are thinking that the babies must be from two different dads since they have two different skin tones ('yes', i want to add, 'and they are also from two different moms').

1 comment: