Fostering Fear

It’s the final day of Foster Care Awareness Month so I thought I'd share this...

I’m no longer really inclined to try and convince everyone to foster children, or to open their homes up to kids from hard places. There are a variety of reasons families can’t (or sometimes, won’t). Amazing folks are helping serve humanity in all kinds of unique ways. Fostering and adopting are just a couple responses, of course.

I do pray, however, that thousands of more families and individuals feel prompted to consider the almost 450,000 who are in the foster care system in the U.S. It’s an urgent and pressing issue.

I hope people are freed from the bondage of fear that so easily consumes, a bondage I know well... Fear to step out of a comfort zone, fear of the loss of control and ease, fear of all the unknowns.

One of the most life-changing lessons I’ve learned as a foster (and now adoptive) parent is this:

In the trenches of fostering, I started to wonder how much I actually knew about trusting God when I was continually finding myself weighed down by fear. (Not enough space to write ALL the things one can be consumed by, and not the forum to share the details of my children’s difficult stories).

But, through a million ways, big and small, the Lord reminded me that I can hand over my fears to Him. That’s the key to freedom. Day by day. Moment by moment. 
And that process makes you stronger -- The continual handing over of heavy burdens strengthens those muscles and you begin to feel the truth- He’s got you. He really does. His power IS made perfect in our weakness.

This journey has broken down all my illusions of self-sufficiency. 
And in its place I’ve been left totally dependent at the feet of Jesus, asking for his power to work through me on a daily basis. Useless without Him.

Turns out, the Lord isn’t just providing a safe place for these children in our home, but is simultaneously revealing the beautiful and overwhelming reality of His love, provision, and trustworthiness to me as I see it all with entirely new eyes.

Turns out, living at the feet of Jesus, desperate and dependent, is a really good place to live.

So, while I’m not trying to convince anyone to foster, I sure hope some of you experience the amazing privilege.