They come.........they go

My entire life my parents took care of foster children. It had very direct implications on my feelings of compassion & empathy towards other people. It was a HUGE reminder to APPRECIATE what I had because not everyone was so fortunate. I actually remember going to bed at night as a child & crying because I was so happy & loved my family so much. My mom was such an amazing mother, & I dare say it would be one of my biggest dreams on Earth to be as good a mother as she was (and still is).

I preface my posting today with this because Lonnie & I have started fostering again. We have been approved for quite some time, but have not received any placements this whole time. Last week we had a 7-year-old little boy who was Hispanic. He was precious. Oh my. I wish my "fall-in-love" time period wasn't so short. It virtually takes me just minutes to fall in love.














He & Josh had such a good time together.
He came on Friday left on Sunday. I cried that night as I said to the Lord, "I could feel the Spirit so much as we took care of one of your children. Please tell me if this is what you want me to do with my life." Anyway, a few days later we got a call for a teenage mom & her 5 month old son. Boy, God answered quickly. I said I wasn't taking teenagers. God said, "This one you are."




I quickly learned why they were different. They went to church with us on Sunday. I learned that day that this special young woman had never prayed. My heart filled with tears. If she only learns one thing in the short time she will be with us it will be to know how to speak with her Heavenly Father. She will know He loves her. We had the missionaries over for dinner last night & they spent some time with her. When they left she said she was glad they had come & talked about how to pray. She said, "Ever since we went to church on Sunday, I've been praying every night. " It was all I could do to hold back my tears. In a few days her & the baby will be going home. Needless to say, this will be more difficult because we have fallen in love with them. I hope Josh is okay because he has fallen head over heels for this baby. Totally. This is why I feel like my mom was amazing. She had DOZENS of children. How did her heart manage so much? As the tears run down my cheeks, I write to say it is VERY HARD on your heart to fall in love with people who you will in all probability never see again. Talk about setting yourself up for heartbreak. But if this is what Heavenly Father wants us to do then we will do it. Just pray it doesn't hurt so much when they leave. You know what you're getting into when you do this. Your job is to love other people's children & then give them back. Why do I want this job?