Today's focus will be more on the positive aspects of foster care and adoption from people who have been there.
Part 1 on this subject might have discouraged people (keeping it real), so I want people to also see that fostering and adoption can be rewarding and is important for Christians to get involved in.
Part 1 on this subject might have discouraged people (keeping it real), so I want people to also see that fostering and adoption can be rewarding and is important for Christians to get involved in.
Here are some thoughts from friends.
This thought was from someone in California who was trying to adopt from the start (with two adoptions finalized).
Another foster family had one of the girls before this adoptive family did.
Without people who do that, these kids would end up in group homes or on the streets (if they are older).
Every child deserves a family and these girls bring so much happiness to me, *** and ****.
I can't imagine a life without them.
A local foster parent shares her feelings about fostering children:
"Very rewarding Make a difference one day at a time"
The rest of this post is written by another foster parent (Jason Marianna) who is from another state in the U.S.
It should be encouraging for Christians to get involved.
It should be encouraging for Christians to get involved.
Some positives:
It’s a unique way of not only sharing the gospel with people in need of hearing it but also living out the ramifications of that gospel in front of people who probably have never seen it. The kids typically, mostly, come from bad homes. The tale of God-fearing people who spanked little, homeschooled church going Susie a little too hard and had their kids removed is mostly non-existent (MOSTLY). Rather, most kids in foster care come from broken dysfunctional homes and have been raised (or neglected) by people who act in some of the worst ways sinners can act. The little ones show up at our door with all kinds of bruises, abused in ways that will make your stomach turn.
They also show up poorly trained, hungry, used to being discouraged and put down, used to having to fight for basic needs, believing adults are a fierce enemy to be dealt with, and many other things most kids don’t deal with. Their sin natures are on full display too. They’ve been trained (one way or another) to steal, swear, hate, lie, physically assert themselves, and sexually gratify themselves. You’d be surprised how young those things begin.
And Jesus can and will heal it all! Not only that, but even more amazing is that He would use a Mom and Dad like my wife and I, with all our weaknesses, to be the way He ministers to those poor kids. In the midst of it all, it’s easy to lose sight of how incredible it is... but when you step back and see it, it’s breathtaking. God deserves the glory.
It was tremendously rewarding to watch our last foster kid transform from what a social worker described as “a feral child” into a normal and happy little boy.
I was so proud of him to see him learn how God wanted him to behave and think and to see him try to please God (and us). And when he failed, I found it to be a joy to sit with him and tell him that God was honored by repentance and trust and to remind him that we loved him, but God loved him even more. He struggled with his own sin, and he struggled with the sin of others that had hurt him.
He had good and bad days. But for the first time in his life, he had a Mom and a Dad who struggled with him and had been there before to show him the way.
Lastly, many of these kids are poorly educated. Not all, but many.
To be able to help them advance in even that regular boring “all kids have to go through it” way was a joy. For us, with all these things, we felt like we were making a difference in a culture that hates God and us. It felt as if we had found our purpose.
It’s a unique way of not only sharing the gospel with people in need of hearing it but also living out the ramifications of that gospel in front of people who probably have never seen it. The kids typically, mostly, come from bad homes. The tale of God-fearing people who spanked little, homeschooled church going Susie a little too hard and had their kids removed is mostly non-existent (MOSTLY). Rather, most kids in foster care come from broken dysfunctional homes and have been raised (or neglected) by people who act in some of the worst ways sinners can act. The little ones show up at our door with all kinds of bruises, abused in ways that will make your stomach turn.
They also show up poorly trained, hungry, used to being discouraged and put down, used to having to fight for basic needs, believing adults are a fierce enemy to be dealt with, and many other things most kids don’t deal with. Their sin natures are on full display too. They’ve been trained (one way or another) to steal, swear, hate, lie, physically assert themselves, and sexually gratify themselves. You’d be surprised how young those things begin.
And Jesus can and will heal it all! Not only that, but even more amazing is that He would use a Mom and Dad like my wife and I, with all our weaknesses, to be the way He ministers to those poor kids. In the midst of it all, it’s easy to lose sight of how incredible it is... but when you step back and see it, it’s breathtaking. God deserves the glory.
It was tremendously rewarding to watch our last foster kid transform from what a social worker described as “a feral child” into a normal and happy little boy.
I was so proud of him to see him learn how God wanted him to behave and think and to see him try to please God (and us). And when he failed, I found it to be a joy to sit with him and tell him that God was honored by repentance and trust and to remind him that we loved him, but God loved him even more. He struggled with his own sin, and he struggled with the sin of others that had hurt him.
He had good and bad days. But for the first time in his life, he had a Mom and a Dad who struggled with him and had been there before to show him the way.
Lastly, many of these kids are poorly educated. Not all, but many.
To be able to help them advance in even that regular boring “all kids have to go through it” way was a joy. For us, with all these things, we felt like we were making a difference in a culture that hates God and us. It felt as if we had found our purpose.
Great side of the story. Thanks for sharing both.
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