Our family began our foster care journey in the fall of 2003. We received our first of what would be 21 foster placements over the past 15 years.
Foster care has permanently changed our perspective on life, and even God, as we see His strong desire to defend and care for orphans through the Bible. Our children have seen firsthand the negative impact that abuse and neglect can have on a child. They have watched children enter our home literally with just “the clothes on their back.”
They have learned to sacrifice so much of themselves as they have willingly shared their toys, their rooms and even their parents with these children. They have seen the implications of a very “broken system.” They have learned to be less entitled. Simply put, they have been changed for the better! Our oldest child, Lauren, even decided to major in Social Work so she can continue to be directly involved with the Child Welfare system. She now has her Masters Degree in Social Work and is a supervisor for Children’s Services in Summit County.
I will be the first one to tell families interested in foster care that it is not easy. Caring for these hurting children is much more complicated than simply providing for their basic needs, overseeing their education and getting them involved in some activities! There are days when the “red tape” of the system can be overwhelming. There are moments when we think, “I just can’t do this anymore.” There are big disappointments when children whom we have poured our lives into seem to not care at all. There is grief when a child leaves our home and we must trust that their brief time with us will somehow have a lasting impact on them for the rest of their lives.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” James 1:27