"I don't know how you do it."
"I could never do that."
These are responses that Nate and I get all the time. Not about the fact that I just ran a full marathon. Not about the fact that we manage two jobs, one ministry and four children. It's the response we often get when people find out that two of those four children are neither biologically ours or adopted... To the simple fact that we are foster parents.
"I could never do it."
Imagine if everyone felt that way. What would happen to the most vulnerable among us? Abused, neglected, and endangered children. Little ones who have been hurt by the very person that was supposed to protect them. Neglected by the person who was supposed to provide. Put at risk by the one who was supposed to keep them safe. What would happen?
As Christians, I want to ask you what your response is to the fact that kids in your very own neighborhood, classmates of your children, are being abused by the people who gave them life? As much as I cringe at the cliche, I have to ask, what would Jesus do? The Bible makes it pretty clear what our response should be.
James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
Matthew 18:5
And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
"I could never do it, I'd get too attached."
Yes, you would. You would get attached. You would fall in love with a child who belongs to someone else. Who you have absolutely no legal right to. Who could be taken from your home at the end of a year or possibly two and sent to live with their abuser. Again, Christians, I want to point out that you were not called to a life of self-protection. You were called to give your life away. God is your protector, you need only to be obedient. Let me gently remind you that God loved you, even at great expense. He loved you enough to let his only child die for you even given the risk that you could reject Him. He loved you and suffered for you even when there was the possibility that he might not get to spend forever with you.... just like I might not get to spend the next 18 years with my youngest son or daughter.
"I still couldn't do it."
Maybe not. Even having said all of the above, I realize that not everyone can do this, or should do this. Not everyone can parent through the red tape and bureaucracy. Not everyone can deal with a legal system that is abuser-centered instead of child-centered. Not everyone can handle dealing with birth-parents, who are in our case, drug addicted, violent, convicted felons. Not everyone can raise children who's lives are dictated by social workers and magistrates. But everyone can do something. You can do something.
It is often said that a foster child is everyone's child. Your tax dollars fund the entire child welfare system. You elect the judges, you pass the levies that determine the very lives of these children. My children. Get involved. Get educated. Hold the system that you pay for accountable. If you, like me, disagree with the STATED NUMBER ONE GOAL of Children Services being to reunite children with the people who abused them, then stand up and SAY SO! If you disagree with their policy that the best place for a child is always with their biological family then speak up! I am begging you. Do what the Bible says and plead the cause of the orphan.
When you walk in the main door of Summit County Children Services you will see puzzle pieces all over the walls. The life of a foster child is like a broken puzzle. Nate and I can be this part of the puzzle. We can do this. We can bring them home, put a roof over their head, love them literally like our own, and give our hearts away. But we can't do it alone. We need support. We need your prayers. We need your shoulders to cry on and your hands to help. We need people to step in and be the other parts of the puzzle.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.
Matthew 18:5
And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
"I could never do it, I'd get too attached."
Yes, you would. You would get attached. You would fall in love with a child who belongs to someone else. Who you have absolutely no legal right to. Who could be taken from your home at the end of a year or possibly two and sent to live with their abuser. Again, Christians, I want to point out that you were not called to a life of self-protection. You were called to give your life away. God is your protector, you need only to be obedient. Let me gently remind you that God loved you, even at great expense. He loved you enough to let his only child die for you even given the risk that you could reject Him. He loved you and suffered for you even when there was the possibility that he might not get to spend forever with you.... just like I might not get to spend the next 18 years with my youngest son or daughter.
"I still couldn't do it."
Maybe not. Even having said all of the above, I realize that not everyone can do this, or should do this. Not everyone can parent through the red tape and bureaucracy. Not everyone can deal with a legal system that is abuser-centered instead of child-centered. Not everyone can handle dealing with birth-parents, who are in our case, drug addicted, violent, convicted felons. Not everyone can raise children who's lives are dictated by social workers and magistrates. But everyone can do something. You can do something.
It is often said that a foster child is everyone's child. Your tax dollars fund the entire child welfare system. You elect the judges, you pass the levies that determine the very lives of these children. My children. Get involved. Get educated. Hold the system that you pay for accountable. If you, like me, disagree with the STATED NUMBER ONE GOAL of Children Services being to reunite children with the people who abused them, then stand up and SAY SO! If you disagree with their policy that the best place for a child is always with their biological family then speak up! I am begging you. Do what the Bible says and plead the cause of the orphan.
When you walk in the main door of Summit County Children Services you will see puzzle pieces all over the walls. The life of a foster child is like a broken puzzle. Nate and I can be this part of the puzzle. We can do this. We can bring them home, put a roof over their head, love them literally like our own, and give our hearts away. But we can't do it alone. We need support. We need your prayers. We need your shoulders to cry on and your hands to help. We need people to step in and be the other parts of the puzzle.
1 comment:
Chanda, you and Nate are so obedient to God's calling for your lives. You inspire me! I'm so proud of you. What can I do to be a part of that puzzle???
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