True Religion

For those not connected with Mr. A via Facebook, he did ride the MS this weekend.  Day 2 was cancelled due to lightening and tornado threats.  He was/is very sad that he didn't get to finish.  I am, however, enormously proud of him.  He trained hard to get here and still completed the longest ride he's ever done.

Ok, now on to the part of the blog that spawned the title.  Princess O is still doing amazing.  She turns 4 months on Thursday.  After her visit on Friday Mom realized that if the baby came back right now she wouldn't have time to spend with her because of all the things she is trying to do at once.  She also said that she knows Princess O is in a good foster home and that not everyone gets that kind of home.  She acknowledged that Princess O is better with us than with her right now.  Wow.  Talk about humbling for us.  This comes after a conversation the week before that I had with our CPS worker who talked about how rare a foster home like ours is.  I know that there are scary foster homes out there, but I was very naive to think that there were more foster homes like ours than there really are.  The other foster parents we know do have homes like ours, but in the grand scheme of foster care we know pitifully few foster parents.  Mr. A and I have talked about the lure of fostering for profit (although, I still can't fathom why you would do that), and also how the process and system can make even the best of parents very hard and callous without constant prayer.  It is also overwhelming that there are so many babies/kids that need good homes, and we can only provide for 1 right now.  God seems to be constantly reminding me of this need with the number of foster kids I have met (most by accident) at my school this year.  Even today, leaving to take Thing1 to the doctor, I ran into a foster mom who just got a placement of 2 more beautiful boys.  She is a single mom, but tries really hard.  She gave me an update on the girls she had previously in the year and was still keeping in contact with them.  There is so much need!

Since beginning licensing classes we have heard the same kind of comment from more people than we can count.  It always seems to go like this: "I think it's great what you guys are doing.  I've thought about foster/adopting often, but I just don't think I can take the heartbreak if they leave."  We still have our beautiful princess, but I am here to tell you I have no doubt that when/if she leaves me that my heart will break into a million pieces some of which she will take with her.  I know that her tiny life has already infected our lives, our families' lives, the lives of those she spends time with each week with a powerful love.  We are confident that God has called us to foster/adopt, so even when we can't see past the situation/hurt/uncertainty at hand we want to be obedient.  Although I am able to write this today with great confidence, do not be misled.  I battle with my obedience more often than I care to admit.  The New Testament doesn't talk about our lives being without pain, quite the opposite.  I think our lives would be less abundant if we were saved pain and heartache.  If you are reading this, I pray that if you've entertained the thought of opening your life to children in distress, but not taken that step, that you would do some serious praying and embrace obedience to Christ no matter the call.  There are many ways to help, but please don't choose the "safe" options if that is not what you are being called to do!

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Ways to pray for our family:

• Mr.A's recovery from this weekend.
• Thing1 has strep! Pray for his quick recovery. Pray that Thing2 and Princess O stay healthy.
• Princess O has her 4 month check-up soon.
• Continue to pray for Princess O's mom. Pray that she would apply the things she is learning to do for O.
• Pray for those involved in making decisions this week for Princess O. There is a court hearing every Thursday that can change everything.