One of the harder things about foster parenting is not the actual
parenting part but the fostering part. We are taking care of this
little one and loving her as our very own. We do not limit the love we
lavish on her nor the firmness needed for correction and guidance.
However, at the end of the day, we need to remind ourselves that she is
not ours for keeps. Weekly, she has visitations with her birth parents,
and it's those visits that drive the point home. God has given her to
us for a short season and after that, she will return to her parents.
If ever there was an experiential lesson on "the blessedness of
possessing nothing" (AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God), this would be the
one. To love fully but hold loosely and put our heart in God's hands
and our hope in His sovereign character -- that is the stretching
pattern of foster parenting.
When "God's gifts take the place of God...the whole course of nature is
upset by the monstrous substitution." -- AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God
"The blessed ones who possess the kingdom are they who have repudiated
every external thing and have rooted from their hearts all sense of
possessing." -- AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God
Comments (6)
fostering sounds super hard. :( Thanks for sharing the insight!
so well written!
i love the connection you made between fostering and "the blessedness of possessing nothing" ...
how blessed that little girl is ... whether she stays or not, she's still taking day by day from you & sam glimpses of Christ's love. that, no one can take from her (or you)! <3
compelling words! and a stretching pattern indeed...what a striking and yet arduous reflection of His self-sacrificial love for us. thanks for sharing, and keep up the hard work!
(formerly eastcoastreader)
thanks for the note! though the pleasure is very much mine. :) I hope it's encouraging to recall how others have walked your way before...even Mary, mother of Jesus, knew from before His birth that she was only to have him for a while, and that He was never--and would never be--quite hers. Same for Joseph as well!
i cannot even imagine what you and Sam are going through, but i admire you.