Has anyone had experience with foster care?

[URA]

"“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen...to provide the poor wanderer with shelter"--NIV
"Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose...bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house"--NABRE
"Is not this the fast that I choose... bring the homeless poor into your house"--ESV
​

Isaiah 58 is a wonderful chapter on fasting, as God describes the kinds of fasting that does or doesn't please Him & help us to reach our full potential. Part of why it such a good passage as because it really challenges out idea fasting. Pope Francis said that fasting for ourselves is really a form of spiritual selfishness; fasting should always be focused towards someone else, as Isaiah describes.

I highlight of this passage in particular, because I think it really applies to foster care. Bringing the afflicted, and the people who don't have a home to call their own, into our house is a noble thing. I think it would really apply to the teenagers who are basically homeless while in the foster care system, particularly because helping the homeless rarely involves our own homes, but foster care always does.

We talked a lot about foster care in my forensic psychology class, which is where I got my interest in the system in the first place. So many problems happened when these kids just don't have a home, and that's I've looked into it further, various forms of abuse are very common within foster care.* This all seems to highlight the importance of giving the kids a permanent, safe home. Even if we are taking a risk by bringing one of these kids in our home, no one was ever considered a great Christian for playing it safe & avoiding risks. God can operate in amazing ways, and if we sacrifice our own comfort to let Him do so, we imitate Jesus on the Cross.

So what do you think? Does anyone have experience taking in foster kids, or being a foster kid? I'd love to hear from somebody that practical knowledge about this. If nothing else, I would like to take a moment to pray for them.

*Bridge to Success- National Foster Care Month - Shared Hope International

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

So what do you think? Does anyone have experience taking in foster kids, or being a foster kid? I'd love to hear from somebody that practical knowledge about this. If nothing else, I would like to take a moment to pray for them.

Yes. I have fostered quite a few children. It is a very rewarding experience. My children too have adopted children out of the foster care system.

 

[URA]

Yes. I have fostered quite a few children. It is a very rewarding experience. My children too have adopted children out of the foster care system.

Great! Did you fully adopt, or take them in temporarily?

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

Great! Did you fully adopt, or take them in temporarily?

I did not adopt them.My daughter adopted two and my son is seeking to adopt the three he has.