Our biological children were quite young [6, 4, and 2] when we began fostering. One of the questions we had to answer was, “What are we going to tell the kids?” What words were simple enough for them to understand this complex world of foster care? We finally decided on, “Their mommy and daddy need some help to provide a safe home for them, so we are helping until they can.”
Everyone can understand helping, and everyone can understand needing help. We all have needed help, along with love, compassion, and forgiveness throughout our lives. I know that my God has extended all of these things to me at my worst and least deserved times, and He has called on us to extend these to the biological families we help. It is not always easy, in fact it’s often very difficult, uncomfortable, and maybe even scary, but if we can lean into the discomfort and do what God has called us to do, we can hand God the pen to write a beautiful story for a family that needs Him.
Even though he is a very happy child, every time our little guy video chats with his biological family, the giggles and squeals are unmatched at any other time. It’s obvious they hold a very special key to his heart. To ignore, or worse diminish, their impact in his life would be to ignore God’s authorship of his story. God has written a beautiful story for our family, and I feel honored and privileged to be a part of a beautiful story for another family as well.
Angie Smallwood, AGAPE Foster Mother