What if we changed the term “foster” children to “community” children? Think about that for a second. How does it change your thought about the “children” when you change the word in front of them?
I strongly believe that we need a culture shift in the way we think about foster care. A shift that would open up thousands of homes right here in the state of Texas. A shift that would help us understand that opening our homes to a foster child is not just for couples wanting to scratch the baby itch, or expand their family, but the responsibility of all citizens in the community. Don’t get me wrong, not everyone can be a host home and offer 24/7 care to these children, but everyone can play some role in supporting these kids and those who host them.
Let me use our situation as an example. Tara and I were on the down-hill side of parenting with our bio-children. One out of the house and two teenagers. Despite what we knew would be some loss of “freedom” we felt called to become foster certified. The key word there is “called”, not because we had a desire to grow our family, not due to fear of an empty nest, but because we had experienced orphan care overseas and knew that a mission trip once or twice a year wasn’t going to be enough.My family is involved in orphan care, and foster care, because we believe the Bible and what it says about “pure religion”. We are involved locally in foster care because there is an opportunity to practice James 1:27 right here in our own backyard.
Our minds have shifted to see “foster care” as “community care” and I hope you’ll listen for the call on how you are meant to be involved.