My Journey: The Story of a Foster Child

My Journey

The Story of a Foster Child:

Life began and the Lord saw you.

When know one else knew you were there, His dream for you started to unfold.

But...

When you entered this world, no one treasured you.

The ones who should have loved you, hurt you.

abused you, neglected you. 

Your innocent heart was crushed and you built up walls all around yourself in order to survive.

For years no one knew your suffering.

Then in one terrifying moment, everything you knew good or bad was taken from you.

You're left with people you do not know.

Who will meet you there? 

Will they see you and care for your deepest needs?

Or will you just be another troubled guest in a long line of visitors?

Angry, afraid, confused, and hurting. 

How will you deal with that?

Will you wither away in hopelessness?

Will you hide behind your walls and not talk to anyone?

Will you fight against this lot in life and lash out in anger?

Will you try and please everyone in hopes of earning someone's love?

This will become your "behavioral issue".

And ultimately your label.

Families will look at your file and no matter how nice they try and say it...

...is still trying to learn how to appropriately deal with their anger. 

...needs committed and patient parents who can address their many behavioral issues.

...needs to continue in therapy to work through their troubled past.

...those words don't stir up a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings for prospective families.

And so you wait...

But...

What if we rewind?

You were never labeled, you were never removed, you were never neglected, you were never hurt.

You cried out your first breath, and the Lord could see all that you would become.

All you were meant to be. 

We can't undo the past.

You cannot rewind a child's life back to it's beginning.

But...

You can see, you can see all that He sees.

Because behind that label, 

behind the anger, fear, confusion, and pain.

Behind the walls, 

that person is still there.

The one He created when life first began.

Is the Lord calling you to foster them?

To be there in that terrifying moment when their life falls apart?

To love them no matter what for as long as they are with you?

Who will meet them there?

Is the Lord calling you to adopt them?

To see beyond what their label says to the person inside?

To love them no matter what, as you peel back the layers of what they're not?

Who will have hope for them?

For I will restore health to you

And heal you of your wounds,' says the LORD,

'Because they called you an outcast saying:

"This is Zion;

No one seeks her."'

Jeremiah 30:17