Wednesday, January 4, 2017

How it all began!

Micah 6:8 Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? The voice of the LORD will call to the city-- And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name: "Hear, O tribe. Who has appointed its time?
…As you know Orphans are heavy on Gods heart and because they matter to Him, they matter to us too. We have been repeatedly blessed by adoption and have travelled enough to know, that the problem is not under control nor going away. That unless families step up to adopt, the problem will get worse. In fact here in the U.S. the problem is actually growing due to drug abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, gang violence and Fatherlessness. There are far more injustices than there is justice for these vulnerable ones. Today, just who is actively pleading, the case for the Orphans? Me? You? Jesus Christ is and does everyday. And so He invited us to do so as well, only as Foster Parents this time. We had no plans of adopting, instead just trying to be helpful, as best as we could to relieve the cry of the 'Social Orphan' in our very own backyard. The ones caught in a broken system, with no end at times and no solution but instead a merry go round, that goes and goes and no body knows where it turns. Sometimes it stops and families unite, other times, they go to group homes where things turn more tragic like abuse, violence or death usually caused by self harm and loneliness. And sometimes, yes sometimes, a foster home turns out to be a forever home. We began the journey in faith and reached out as part of a Church/Community effort. And we decided to take the PIP classes, where you receive so many hours of foster training and case studies to prepare us for the journey ahead. A lot of the videos are the same training we received when we adopted internationally. Its about caring for children who are broken hearted, that were abandoned and/or neglected. Mostly, it was about being a Community of helpers to step up and say I will make a difference, I will be a voice for those who do not have any power or say. This would be Justice and Mercy and walking Humbly with our God. When you become a Foster Parent after having adopted already, you go along with things and expect to be humored, every country has its rules and red tape, even ours. You get to see a lot of different dynamics that you may have never noticed before with an International country; mostly, because of language barriers and usually the agency handles the majority of the contacts and appointments etc. Well now for those of us who are curious enough, as a Foster parent, you get to know all the appointments, contacts and characters involved: social workers, guardian ad litems, judges, even biological parents and grandparents...and you are one of the characters too. As a foster parent, you will provide a loving home to a child who may have never experienced a family or stable home. You will foster multiple children too and love each as your own while being sensitive to each child's respective situation. Sounds easy enough right? I had some friends who adopted internationally too and 2 of them had their children in a foster home before arrival instead of an orphanage (my 2 girls resided in orphanages). I noticed their children were very well adjusted, had strong bonds when they arrived home and seemed to be better learners, in other words more focused than our girls were. So Fostering did always intrigue me, it is just slightly different I suppose to foster a true orphan with no relatives to one with many relatives who live really close to your residence.

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harada57 said...
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