Proverbs 24:12

"Because you said, “We didn’t know about it”?  Surely, the Searcher of hearts knows and will repay all according to their deeds." - Proverbs 24:12

For many people, the idea of a foster child brings up images of Oliver Twist and quips of "please sir, could I have some more?"  Many, in fact, have never met a foster child - or if they did, they didn't know it.  The AFCARS (Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System) estimated that in 2010 there were 408,425 children in foster care in the US.  The US Census estimated that there were a total of 74.2 million children living in the US in that same year.  Averaged out that means that every 1 in 180 children living in the US were in foster care in 2010.  1 in 180 seems like a pretty big pool but when you think about it, on average, there are roughly 500 students enrolled in your average elementary school.  That means that it is likely that there are at least 2 foster children enrolled in your child's elementary school.  Or, if you know a kid playing football for the local high school, it is likely that at least two of his opponents or even teammates are foster children. 

There are some famous folks who are known to have been foster children - like Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's fast-food chain.  But there are many more actors, leaders, performers, musicians and pro athletes who were also once a foster child.  Folks like Eddie Murphy, Daunte Culpepper, Tom Monaghan (founder, Dominos Pizza), Marilyn Monroe, Eriq LaSalle, Alonzo Mourning and Babe Ruth spent at least some part of their lives in state-run foster care.  Others like James Dean, Willie Nelson, Eleanor Roosevelt and John Lennon were raised, at least in part, by relatives. 

The reality is that there are many children - not in the world but in our own backyard - whose lives have been put on "pause."  Children who have been mistreated, neglected, abused and now have been taken out of their familiar environment and placed with strangers.  When your life has been not just turned up side down but also given a good shake you naturally develop "issues."  School is hard for you, you sometimes struggle to connect with your peers, you worry a lot and you sometimes have a hard time managing your emotions.  And even if you are blessed to have a couple of loving, patient and kind foster parents your needs often extend past what even the most saint-like can provide.  Not to mention the needs that your birth family probably has - especially if they are working to try to get you back.  These children - and their birth parents - need the prayers and support of their entire community in order to be successful at healing and moving forward. 

Who then, is their community.  Us. You and me.  Your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends and your pastor.  We are all in part responsible for healing these children and families.  Why?  Because if no one had helped Babe Ruth, Eddie Murphy or Eleanor Roosevelt imagine how different our world would be right now.  And because it is our Christian mandate - we are indeed our brother's keeper.  The big, cold and sterile State cannot heal these children and families.  Only the compassion, sacrifice, love and attention of a million hands reaching out from homes across your neighborhood, your town, your country can heal them. 

With foster children and their families there is really only a small window of time wherein helping hands can make a difference - the difference between a family put back together and a child sentenced to a life of repeating the violent cycle of his parents.  Every day I see those small windows start to creep closed and I am often powerless to stop it.  The time to act is now - before the sound of opportunity lost echos again. 

Ten minutes ago you could say you didn't know.  Now however, you do.  And so I say again:

"Because you said, “We didn’t know about it”?  Surely, the Searcher of hearts knows and will repay all according to their deeds." - Proverbs 24:12

May is National Foster Care Month - will you help me celebrate by standing with me, as a community ready to serve?  If you join me you will begin to know the little hearts that I serve every day and you will have faces to go with the term "foster children."  They will become hearts with faces.


**Please stay tuned - I am looking forward to helping you all get to know the children and families I serve, one story at a time.**