Monday, February 24, 2014

Elizabeth Gail

30 years ago I picked up a book in the Christian bookstore where my aunt worked, and I fell in love. Not with a character but with foster care. The series Elizabeth Gail tells the story of a young girl who is in foster care who finally lands in a Christian home and is later adopted. Foster care was always in the back of my mind, but school, college, marriage, and biological children pushed it further and further back. My husband thought the idea was crazy and had no interest. I figured it was a nice idea, but not something I would ever be a part of. As we became more involved in church and my husband more involved in Bible study a verse jumped out at us. 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." We didn't know what that looked like in our lives. Were we supposed to adopt? We had stars in our eyes thinking of a baby girl from China. The cost of international adoption quickly brought us down to earth. We discussed foster care and felt like that was our direction but had no clue where to start. Friends of ours had begun the journey with United Methodist Children's Home so we figured we would start there. A year and a half later we have navigated unfamiliar waters, been frustrated, worried, unsure, and heartbroken. We've also experienced incredible joy as now 6 children have become part of our lives for different lengths of time. So, this is my story...of the hassle, the red tape, the frustrations that all pale in comparison to the incredible children we've gotten to share our lives with.

No comments:

Post a Comment