Skip to main content

Foster Care

1 Sam. 16:7
…“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature…For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Upon first sight, children coming into care often elicit compassion rather than inspiration.  They may show up to your home looking sheepish with bruises, dirty & torn clothes, shoeless, and in dire need of a few good meals.  The statistics for their success after care can be even more discouraging.  1 in 5 become homeless after 18.  Only ½ are employed by the age of 24, and less than 3% earn college degrees. 

When Samuel was tasked with finding a new king for Israel he became over focused on outward appearance and the likelihood of success.  He almost anointed the wrong brother before God corrected him and told him that he judged by the heart, not the outward appearance.  The result of this correction was King David, who’s known for uniting the tribes, expanding the kingdom, and chasing after God’s heart. King David is an inspiration to us even today.

Our foster children sometimes may not look like much, but they do have heart.  The trauma in their lives may have hidden it deep to protect it, but once uncovered it can be beautiful and inspirational to all those that have the pleasure to bear witness to these beautiful souls. 

Those who take the time and do the hard work to help uncover the hearts of these precious children are the ones that make up the positive statistics for foster care.  They gifted us with inspirational people like Andrew Jackson, Gerald Ford, Herbert Hoover, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Eleonore Roosevelt, Nancy Reagan, Malcom X, J.R.R. Tolkien, Edgar Allan Poe, Bach, Ray Charles, John Lennon, Willie Nelson, Cher, Faith Hill, Steve Jobs, Dave Thomas, Babe Ruth, and Eddie Murphy among many more.

Are you one of those with the passion and faith to do the difficult labor? As Christ said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Luke 10:2). 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Divine | Shame | Humans

Shame is often the only thing between our creator and us. Our reading this week is from Job 14:5-6: A person’s days are determined;      you have decreed the number of his months      and have set limits he cannot exceed. So look away from him and let him alone,      till he has put in his time like a hired laborer. Job is struggling with shame and judgement.  He is wondering why God is spending time paying attention to him, a tiny speck in the great universe, a blink of an eye in all eternity.  Why would God waste time casting a glance at us, let alone fostering us, raising us, and disciplining us?  He cries out "Why won't God just let us be, to live out our miserable existence?" A friend shared a post with me on Facebook this week.  It was a video of her dog who had stolen her donut.  The dog had been under the bed for two hours before she started the video.  The video begins with a clear view of the dog and the uneaten donut under the bed.  The dog casts glances from s
Post a Comment
Read more

Justice & Privilege

The narrative lectionary reading for this week begins a 5 week series on the book of Job.  We focus on Job 1:1-12.  This first section sets the background for the parable.  It is important to note that this is clearly a parable, not a historical text.  This means we must look beyond the described events and towards a deeper meaning within the text.   The story goes like this: ___ There was once a man who thought he was good, an upright citizen, a religiously devout man.  He made good choices and avoided all forms of evil.  He was so pious that he made sacrifices in the name of his family members in case they had unknowingly sinned.  He had great wealth and privilege, and so this was evidence of his goodness.   God was so pleased with this great man, named Job, that he bragged about him to the accuser.  The accuser objected "Of course Job is good, you have provided him with wealth, power, and protection. He would curse you if he was not so privileged."  At this, God takes the
Post a Comment
Read more

Fool for Christ

Our reading from the Narrative Lectionary this week is 2 Corinthians 5.  Verse 13 stood out to me. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. - 2 Corinthians 5:13a (NLT) John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard churches did a famous sermon called "I am a fool for Christ, whose fool are you?".  Reading this week's text reminded me of this wonderful sermon.  Wimber's sermon reminds us that, as christians, we are called to something truly radical.  The christian walk is strange and counter cultural.  Jesus once explained this to his disciples in John 15 "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. You don't belong to this world, I have chosen you out of it.  That is why the world hates you."   Peter, in a letter to the church, later referred to all of us as strangers just passing through this world.   Do you feel like a stranger?  Do you feel like the world hates you?  Are you a fool for Christ? Here is the thing, you are going t
Post a Comment
Read more