I love it when fostering reaches the next level. You may be thinking I mean adoption. But I don't. Not for our family anyway. For me, the next level of fostering is having a relationship with at least one of the parents of our foster kid. This is something that has really surprised me about fostering. I never in a million years would have thought that this would be one of my favorite parts of it, but it really is!
It would be so easy for us to judge the parents. To think badly of them. I'll admit that I'm human and there are times where my thoughts aren't great towards them. But then I'm reminded of just that...I'm human! Just because my sins don't get my kids taken away, doesn't mean I am any better than they are. The bible says "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." It doesn't say "all have sinned, but only those who do something that gets them in jail fall short of the glory of God." NO! It says ALL sinned and we ALL fall short of his glory!
Perhaps your sin is that you cheated on a test at school. Maybe you and your spouse got in a fight and when the nice man at the store said you looked nice, your thoughts were no longer pure. Perhaps you made a mistake on a report at work and decided not to tell anyone it was you. Keep these things in mind when you see someone who's kids have been placed in foster care. They need God just as much as you and I do. They need someone to show them love and encourage them to make the right choices.
I love getting to build a relationship with the mom's (I have yet to build one with a dad, but probably would let the hubs build that relationship anyway). It is great to be able to text them a picture of their child before bed and tell them goodnight. It is great to receive a text from them afterwards that says thanks.
So let me ask you this question: What is God calling you to do? I know we aren't all called to be foster parents, although I wish we were. But we are all called to help in some way. Do you know a foster family? Do you know someone who's kids are in foster care? Love on both of them! Encourage them! Listen to what God has for you to do today.
