Start with Yes- A 5 Day Foster Care and Adoption Reading PlanMfano

Day 5- Family Some families we are born into, some families we choose. In every placement that comes into our home, we work relentlessly to create meaningful bonds with their biological family. We want the family to know we are for their child, that we will love them deep and hard from the moment they enter our home, and that our love never stops, no matter where that child may travel to next. But we also want the family to know we are for them, too, that we believe in them and are cheering them on from the sidelines. This is foster care. It is loving children fiercely and also loving their family well. It is celebrating when they succeed and welcome their sweet little person back, while simultaneously nursing our broken heart because a piece of it has left. It is creating a unique spiderweb we call family. It is building a support system that will always be there to protect the children and support the family. It is receiving a text when he has fallen and is on his way to the ER. It is picking up a FaceTime call while she is swinging at the park. It is checking in to find out if we can do lunch when we are in town. It is receiving photos and updates years later, because they know how important their family is to ours. This is what foster care looks like after foster care. We do not get to meet under normal circumstances. We say ‘yes’, not only to a child, but to walking in relationship with a new family. You may be thinking, “It isn’t always this pretty.” And you are right. Sometimes it is impossible, by no fault of your own, but your heart position and posture towards biological family is important. The reality is, you are connected through that sweet little one sitting in your living room, and it is all worth it.