Busyness is a concept that Americans tend to be all too familiar with. We love to be busy. However, we’re constantly fighting the battle between feeling too busy and feeling guilty for not being busy enough. A lot of times, this business battle prevents us from doing the things we want or wish to do. What we really need is to prioritize what is really important in life. Just like working individuals make time to spend with their spouse and children, we must also learn to make time for the things that are important to our world as a whole, especially the things that are near and dear to our hearts.
Though working and striving for success is important, taking care of each other- of God’s people, is one of the most basic commandments that we are meant to do. A lot of times, people are interested in fostering but are convinced that they are too busy. Perhaps they are even waiting for the perfect season of life where they magically become less busy. “Maybe one day…” But the truth is you’ll never become “less” busy unless you take the steps to get there. Life moves fast and new things and opportunities will always come up.
So stop waiting. If busyness is the only thing holding you back, look into what you can do in order to make fostering a priority. Whether that be cutting back your hours or working from home a few days a week. If you have biological children, I encourage you to look back and think about how you managed back then, and what you could implement into the now. Remember that you’ll always have sources of support to help you when you need it, both physically and spiritually. God will never lead you into something that you can’t handle. It may be challenging, but not impossible.
In the harsh reality of life, the kids waiting for a foster don’t have the privilege to wait around until it’s the perfect time for you to foster them. They need a home now, and they will take what they can get. As for a bit of encouragement, if you’ve been on the fence about foster care… talking about it, praying about it and constantly wondering, then the odds are you should do it. But most importantly recognize that there will never be a perfect time to do it- so as long as your life is in a stable position, and you and your spouse are on the same page, go for it.