My heart was stretched during my teen years when I used to baby sit for some foster children. (Knowing what I know now I wonder if this was approved by Ohio foster care? A random teen sitting these kids?! I mean, I knew the foster mother well as she was an old teacher of mine, but still, I had no training in foster care nor background checks.) But I LOVED these precious girls, who seemed to bounce from foster mother to home and back again. Sometimes just the two little girls and sometimes with their 12 year old sister... So sad, and I wonder what ever happened to these precious children... In high school I actually wrote my longest paper on foster care. It is really heart breaking, in different ways than orphans in 3rd world countries, but equally important for the children! And it is something I REALLY want to do. Not this month, probably not this year, but we have the space, we have the love, and we may have the patience?!
Our church has partnered with an organization that works with the county's system, and they are providing free training for three full days, and after the training you will be equipped and ready to take on children. (pending home study and cpr certification) This does not mean that you ever have to foster parent, but it also allows you the option to get your feet wet by just providing respite care in the form of babysitting or more long term like if the family were taking a vacation and could not bring the child, a respite provider may keep the child for a week or two. I think this is a great way to start, and loosen up our family to the idea that "foster child" doesn't have to be a scary word! I really, REALLY want to do this, and who knows where it may lead? Oh wait. God does! This may be all He asks, just to let foster parents get a break sometimes, or take in a child for an emergency. Currently there are thousands of children in Virginia who are in the foster care system, and near 700 in our area alone. Lots and lots of children who need a stable and loving family, and most importantly,a family who can introduce them to Jesus-and the the Father who will never leave them!
Do I feel completely equipped to this task? Absolutely not. Am I the ideal parent? Is anyone?! I know that I LOVE, and that I can love deep. I also know that when a child NEEDS me I am there (I like to be needed!) I also know that daily I feel like a failure, but that daily God nudges me to do more. To be more. To love more. And I can't help but feel this is what God has been preparing me for since those tender teen years!
Now I know not all foster children (or children in general) are all sweetness and roses. I babysat another sibling set that were the opposite, and children who I could not have in my home with my littles as they are now. But we have a long time of parenting ahead of us, and sadly the number of foster children is never going to decrease significantly that the need will not be there! So maybe it is not time RIGHT NOW, but starting with respite care on the SOONER side may set us up for more on the LATER side. And my heart is in it right now, and God just keeps tugging away...
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