To Such Belongs the Kingdom of God

Luke 18:15-17 
Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

This particular journey began last fall with a phone call from our favorite child protection worker asking us to consider a particular foster care placement.  So many details were unknown and what was known was challenging.  Extremely premature baby girl, complicated birth history, still in the NICU, unknown outcome of her case.  We asked ourselves the hard questions: could we handle daily visits to the NICU for a season, could we care for a baby with extra medical and developmental needs, could we handle adding potential extra visits with baby's family into our schedule, could we accept all the unknowns, could we love this tiny little one until she needed to leave.  We quickly assembled the kids and had an impromptu family meeting asking if everyone was on board with this foster care assignment and praying together for God's grace to be on our family in this endeavor.  It was a unanimous yes and we called the CPS worker back.

Caring for a child in protective custody for a year gives you a bond to that child that is strong and precious.  It causes your heart to be broken for the child, to be vigilant to protect the child, and to desire the best possible outcome for the child's future.  When a child begins life facing so many challenges - medically, physically, emotionally - and you are the family God has trusted to advocate for that child, you create a special bond with that child.  In this way it is easy to explain to others who might consider foster care or adopting that God gives foster and adoptive parents a fierce love for their children by using situations like this to create and strengthen that love.  We welcome, protect, advocate for, and love these little ones with a love that is natural to a biological parent because we are parenting with that same relentless love.

A dear friend and mentor of ours was once asked why he and his wife continue to adopt and welcome children into their home.  They already had a larger-than-average family and according to popular opinion in the world they had already done their share to help others.  So why keep opening their home when it was often challenging and occasionally heartbreaking?  His response was that welcoming children who needed a family to protect them allowed him to see more of God.  Through adoption he was able to see more of how God chooses, loves, protects, forgives, and adopts us.  Through adoption he was able to see more of God's grace being poured out.  Through adoption he was able to trust God more because he became so much more dependent upon all that God is for him.

We see this clearly in foster care and adoption.  It is not always easy.  It frequently reveals the rough edges of our hearts - selfishness, weariness, fear.  And it reveals the majesty and glory of God who welcomed little children and said that to such belongs the kingdom of God.  Foster care and adoption teach us to welcome the kingdom of God, His grace, protection, provision, and love.  It shows us how needy and dependent upon Him we are.

As we wait on God to clarify the situation for our precious foster daughter we see His goodness in teaching us to welcome little children (and big ones) into our home.  We trust that He cares for our hearts and our family as we care for this little one.  We pray for His protection on her life and ultimately for her eternal joy in Him.

*Because this is an ongoing CPS case I am unable to write about the specifics of it at this time; however, I can share general, non-identifying information and the impact this situation has had on our family.