In this world of foster care there is always loss involved at every turn.
Someone experienced loss at some point in their life which was not dealt with properly which lead to poor decisions which inevitably repeated throughout generations.
Loss begets loss and so forth.
When a child comes into care the foster parents are eager to know and love these children while recognizing the profound loss they have just experienced by the traumatic but necessary removal from their family. Children want to be with their parents no matter how terrible the situation they came from is- it is hard to fathom but it is true.
The loss of a child and the ability to parent that child is profound. The parents that lose the right to tuck their kids into bed, choose their clothes and kiss their owies love them deeply- it is never about whether they love them enough or not- it is about if they can safety care for them and that’s the hard truth.
Our family is for reunification.
We believe families belong together and that regardless of what we think we can provide, nothing replaces a parent.
We have witnessed a beautiful reunification with our own foster son when so many thought it would never happen, we believe in grace and second chances and hope.
We also believe in the opportunity for children to grow up in a safe home, taken care of and provided for in ways that love alone cannot. We are for reunification until we aren’t and that’s where we landed with our current situation.
We began praying for a new path to be paved for Sunshine’s life- we begin to plead that God would move mountains to provide Sunshine with a safe and permanent home that would allow her to grow into the beautiful person God has created her to be.
We have had countless restless nights with little to no sleep, pleading on the behalf of this precious girl. We have pushed and advocated and written emails and letters and made phone calls and texts doing our part as her foster family to give a voice to our hope for her.
In the midst of all of this we have not stopped praying for her birth family. We have prayed they would get the help they need to make the best choices for themselves and that the rest of their lives would be full of healing and hope and the love of Jesus- even if they aren’t parenting this child.
Today we believe that God answered our prayers in a way that could only be described as a miracle. The details don’t matter- and I couldn’t share them if I wanted but believe me when I say, “only God”.
While we rejoice in this we recognize the loss that has occurred and will occur because of this and we don’t take that lightly- there is a tension we embrace in this crazy system and it is hard and ugly and beautifying collectively.
The road ahead is long- there are multiple things yet to come and more decisions to be made and, yes... more loss. But we believe God will be faithful- He will be faithful to our family and to Sunshine and her future.
“To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.”
Isaiah 61:3 NLT
0 comments