The Old Redemption Story

I have found a new addiction- Foster Parent Podcast. This lovely couple from California shares their foster care story with near-weekly podcasts. There is this strange camaraderie that I feel with these people I've never met. They articulate feelings that I've experienced, but never tried to communicate.

The first was Wendy's thoughts on biochildren. She said that she doesn't grieve having biochildren (or loin children as she calls them), but she grieves not giving birth the children in her home. WOW!! That hit the nail on the head! I have no longing to be pregnant or give birth to a biokid, but if Babies 1-3 had come from my womb I could have kept them safe and protected them from the trauma of separation and placement. I know that I can not accurately predict the attachment I would have with a biobaby, but I am positive that the love I have for my children is as deep, fierce, and explosive as it could be for a child that shares my genetics. I have had to grieve that my children have another Mommy who is integral in their story.

The next point they make early on in their podcasts is about bioparents and Christian faith. They said that it's God's plan for biofamilies to stay together. I never actually had that thought, but it's blaringly true. Foster care is the answer when sin separates families from God's plan for parents to keep kids safe. Jesus came to redeem us all from the sin that has separated us from God's plan.

Galatians 3:13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us". I have been saved through the blood of Jesus, and proudly call myself a Christian.

 If I have authentic faith in the God of the Bible and salvation through Jesus Christ, I must believe that redemption is for bioparents who have fallen away from the plan to keep their kids safe and in their care. This challenges my past attitudes towards the people who have hurt my kids. It's not enough just to love biofamilies. I need to love them like Christ loves them, which includes offering redemption- Romans 3:24  "being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.". Conviction in Podcast form. I have to forgive biofamilies and support reunion to really show Christ to bioparents.

James 1: 26-27 "Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world." (The Message Version)

That was so deep, it had to bypass my mind and land directly into my heart