Tag: help foster children

 

What 12 Things You Can Do to Help Foster Children

What 12 Things You Can Do to Help Foster Children?  We are not all called to adopt.  Adoption is HARD.  We are, all, called to do something.  That something may be donated to another person’s adoption.  You could collect hygiene products, stuffed animals, or small things that could be given to a child who is taken into care.  You could faithfully pray for these children.

Every child deserves safety, love, last name, security, food, clothes, grace, and mercy.  These mamas and daddy’s that foster and/or adopt need respect, grace, forgiveness, understanding, prayer, and help.  They do not need opinions, judgment, sarcasm, or an eye-rolling session.

Adoption is so hard.  It is also so worth it.  The act of adoption is refining and sanctifying, it is walking out Jesus’ command to care for the orphans and widows.  Adoption is all of these things, rolled up in one act of obedience.

I am Special.  A Revelation of Catfish.

I asked Catfish (4) tonight why he felt the need to sit on me all the time….his response:

Catfish:  Because I’m special.

Me:  Oh, really, why are you so special?

Catfish:  Because I’m adopted.

Me:  What does adopted mean?

Catfish:  I don’t know.

Me:  Where’d you come from?

Catfish:  God.

Seriously edible moment.

We had had foster children once before Catfish came to live with us.  We desired to help foster children.  We were his second “formal” foster home.  He was in the foster care system as a baby and came to us at 2 1/2 yrs. old.

Pray.  Research.  Ask Questions on How to Help Foster Children

Please consider how you can help a child in need.  The only thing you could do that was “wrong” is to do nothing.  Here are 12 practical ideas for helping foster children:

• Pray
• Be a non-judgmental ear
• Bring dinner
• Offer respite
• Do a stuffed animal drive and donate to your local DCBS office and police officers
• Create “teen” bags.  Hygiene products, school supplies, small trinkets
• Talk to your children about when they meet a “foster” child or a child who has been adopted.
• De-stigmatize the word SPECIAL NEEDS.  Make it the norm instead of the ab-norm.
• Clean the house of a foster/adoptive parent
• Offer to run to the store
• Gift cards to parents to eat out while you watch their kids
• Oh, and pray.

For more information on how to help foster children or adopt them through the foster care system, please go to Adopt US Kids.