The Battle Has Been Lost ... Foster care in the modern age

How do you give a child the hope of a future who wants nothing but the past? ​

Model Credit: Anderson Cheek (c) 2019 Dena Howard Portrait Design

Here, sit the remains of a battle that has been lost. Hurting children, broken parents, and bewildered foster families. All of us wondering how restoration can ever happen.

In an ideal world, families would be whole. Just as God designed them to be. Saying a biological parent can't love their child because they have messed up is the farthest thing from the truth. I truly believe that love between parents and children exist. The WAY that love is demonstrated (or not) is normally what we have such a problem with. As a foster family, we see this brokenness every day in our home.  We see children who long to be with their parent but for safety reasons, can not.  It has absolutely nothing to do with love.  These kids LOVE their parent and their parent loves them.  It's just not a matter of whether love exists in their relationship.

Unfortunately we do not live in an ideal world. We live in a world that is just limping along, seemingly on it's last leg. This is evidenced by the sheer number of children who are in foster care. Almost 500,000 in the US alone. Did you hear me? 5 HUNDRED THOUSAND. Let me put this in perspective for you. The entire population of Wyoming is around 577,000. Are you seeing it now? These little humans? Children who have been taken away from the only life they've ever known? They could fill an entire state in our country.

Can I take a second and just tell you where the remedy is? In our county alone there are 80 (ish) kids in foster care. 14 foster homes. Over 200 Christian churches. This would almost leave me speechless if not for the fact that it breaks my heart so badly that I have to speak of it.

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​If we are the feet and hands ... the BODY of Christ ... WHAT are we doing? 

WHY are families failing or literally being ripped apart? 

There is only one way to win this WAR on families. Unconditional love. It's for people to love the parents who have lost their children. HELP them. It's for people to love the children who have lost their parents. HELP them. 

Not every one is called to foster, but we are all called to help. I can't relate to having lost my child but I can relate to growing up without a biological parent. That's where I've been and where I feel like God tells me I can help the most. 

Have you been released from the bondage of addiction? Where have you been?

Has God guided you to a healthy mental state, through mental healthcare or spiritual renewal? Where have you been?

Were you the product of a broken home and then God came along and gave you the family you always wanted but never had? Where have you been?

The pastor of our church is known for saying "I can only take you as far as I've been". Well, where have YOU been? Can you reach out through the brokenness and restoration of your past to help someone else? Meet them where they are?

The answer is that we come alongside biological parents, foster families, welfare child workers, the legal system (that's another post in itself); And we meet them where they are to show them where we've been and how we got where we are. It's only then that there will be the hope of restoration of the family.

#bethechange #fosteringishard #bethevillage