It's Not About You.

That's what a foster mom kindly, but directly, said to me as I gave her the reasons why my husband and I could never foster.

"I could never give them back. We'd get too attached."  I compassionately proclaimed to her.

And all she said was, "It's not about you."

And there you have it.

I didn't take offense to her comment. Because she was right.

There are hundreds of innocent children in our city alone that do not get to make the decisions where they will live.  They have been pulled from their families for safety reasons, but they don't get an opinion as to where to go next.  They have no voice.

But I do.  And I use it a lot.

Unfortunately, it's too often for my own self-promotion.

What if instead of giving excuses as to why foster care isn't for our family, I started advocating for the child who doesn't have a family?

The bible is clear in it's mandate: To be a voice for the orphan.

Foster children are orphans. Whether for a few days, months, or years, they are without their biological family.

There are some great ways to care us to for them. 

1.  Through Foster Care, where children are placed with your family for the short or long term until their family is stable enough to get them back or until they are available to be adopted. 

2. Through Respite Care, where you receive the foster care training and then take children into your home for short periods of time.  (i.e. overnight, the weekend, or a week)  Alabama DHR confirmed they are in great need of Respite Care families as well as foster families.

3. Adopt from the foster care system.  There are over 300 children currently available for adoption in foster care in the state of Alabama. 

Children placed in foster care may not have a voice.  But we do.  

Even greater, we have the ability to give them the structure and love that they desperately need.

Foster care is not a walk in the park.  It can be messy and hard.

But it is also part of the adventure that God calls us to as believers- to care for the orphan.

You may not know yet if this is for your family- but we encourage you to join us and learn more at our ONEfamily Foster Care Q&A on August 1st at 6pm in Room 7207 at Frazer UMC. 

Frazer Foster families will be sharing their experiences and insight about the fostering process.  

If you already know that you are interested in Foster or Respite Care, the next ten-week training course begins September 6th at Frazer.  Please email Leslie at onefamily@frazerumc.org. 

*This is a repost from a July 2011 blog entry at Waiting on a Word.