“I don’t know how you do that” is a common sentiment that most foster parents hear through their time fostering. It’s usually followed with I couldn’t do that, I’d get too attached.
The not-so-secret secret is: so do we. We get too attached. Our hearts break for our kids. And yes, they will always be our kids. If you’re doing it right, you will fall hopelessly in love with the little people in your care, because you care.
So if you aren’t getting attached and giving these kids who are being drug through terrible circumstances at no fault of their own, maybe fostering isn’t for you.
Not everyone should be a foster parent, but everyone should care about foster kids.
My response is usually, “then it’s not your mission field.” And I believe that. God has called everyone to a personal mission field. We usually think Africa when it comes to mission fields. Not sure why we think Africa has a higher need for Jesus than the city we live in, but that’s the way we’ve been conditioned in American churches.
And when you find your mission field, that place with people you love but they are trapped in a broken cycle and you want nothing more than for them to know the hope and life change only Jesus can give, then you’ll hear people say “I don’t know how you do that.” Because love does hard things, and when you love people, the hard things aren’t less hard, they are just more worth it.
This post was inspired by my “Love Does Hard Things Printables” You can check them out at the links below
