You're Right... You Can't

Before Christmas, our family said "see ya later" to our first Foster Child(FC). After 7 months in our home, he transitioned into an adoptive family. There have been so many emotions since then. Joy, sadness, excitement and worry have all entered our home. It is an amazing experience to watch God's plans unfold before your eyes. Plans that I never would have thought possible.

He gave us this baby boy to love and protect, to teach and to grow...then asked us to wait. To wait for him to work. For seven months we waited, loved, protected and taught. Then he revealed his plan in the most beautiful way! 

Not only did he bring forth a loving family for our sweet FC, he called  a family from our church. A family who was there from the very beginning of our journey. A family who has been our support and encouragement through this whole experience, and for months, never knew that God was setting them up to be his forever family.

What an amazing God we have! When our paths are dark and uncertain, he is there to guide you through, help you open your eyes and see the beauty he has placed along the way. 

Ever since we decided to become foster parents, we have heard the statement 999,999 times...."I could never be a foster parent." Many times the person is referring to how difficult it would be to say goodbye, having no control over decisions made by courts, or worrying if they will be safe if/when they leave your home. All are perfectly amazing examples of what makes being a foster parent difficult. 

They are right to feel that they couldn't do it....because they can't. 

You can't do this alone... you can't say "good bye" to a child that you have loved as your own...you can't wash, fold, and pack their bag for the last time...you can't dodge around the corner at church because if he sees you, he won't understand...you can't wait weeks for him to adjust with his new family before you can see him again...

But... Our ALMIGHTY GOD CAN! That is the ONLY way that this is possible.

I can't tell you how grateful I am to see his smiling face squished up next to his Mommy and Daddy's smiling faces in weekly pictures! I can't tell you how grateful I am to hear the joy in his family's voices when they talk to and about him! In the seven months he lived in our home, there were MANY days I felt that I "just can't." Now I know, HE can and HE will.

"And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known. I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things that I do, and I do not forsake them." - Isaiah 42:16