This month I am partnering with Christian Heritage and My Bridge Radio to encourage families in Nebraska to consider foster care as a way to love families in crisis. If you’re curious about foster parenting, now is the time to get your questions answered! Check out Christian Heritage for more details about informational events happening across Nebraska in September.
There are many reasons not to get involved in foster care. I can tell you about our own struggles through our years of loving kids and families in crisis, but there was a thought that kept us going: What if something terrible happened and we weren’t able to raise our own kids? Who would we want raising them and how would we want those people to treat us?
If I couldn’t raise my own kids, I would want them in the home of someone who loved them and who believed the best about me. I would want foster parents who thought I was capable of making the changes I need to make and who supported my efforts. I would want my kids to hear good things about me and to be encouraged to pray for me. You see, this is why Christians are uniquely suited to the difficult work of foster care. We believe in redemption. We believe in forgiveness and compassion and gentleness and grace. We serve a God who sought after us when we were at our worst and chose to love us anyway. We can be those kinds of people to the families stuck in the foster care system. We can be the ones to offer hope and believe that healing is possible. We can strive to see parents as Jesus sees them instead of believing what the world says about them. They are more than their prison records, court verdicts, rehab paperwork, mental health history, or job status. They are souls of worth to their creator. When we love them well and treat them the way we want to be treated, we make it easier for their children to love them and love us, too. Foster care isn’t easy, but the work of redemption will always be costly. We just firmly believe that the cost is worth it.