How many times have you heard stories of foster parents sacrificing their homes, finances, and hearts for little ones that will inevitably be taken away from them? How many times has your heart crumbled as you thought “I could never do that”?
Foster parent, Alyssa Short, has heard that line multiple times as she’s fostered kids. So, she took to Facebook to explain what it means to be a foster parent, and her message gained a lot of attention.
Facebook
Alyssa and her husband are very active in their community church, and extremely passionate about foster care. She often shares status updates, posts, and articles that demonstrate just how powerful it is to bring a child into your home with no expectation but to love them back to a place of peace.
Still, she is plagued with the comment “I could never do that” so often, that she decided to address it in a powerful message:
Fostering – “I could never do thatâ€
One of, if not THE most common phrases I’ve heard when the topic of foster care comes up. It’s usually followed with “it would break my heart”or “I would get too attached”I know a lot of people don’t really know what foster care is and I understand where that comment is coming from but I want to say something: THAT IS LITERALLY THE POINT”
She included a photo of herself rocking one of her foster children in her arms.
Facebook
Looking at the picture below you might see a Mama rocking her child to sleep, but you’re wrong, that’s not what’s going on. I wish you could hear this picture. You see, this is a picture of the gospel alive and breathing in my living room, because what you don’t see are the 12 other people that were in the room the moment this picture was taken.
You can’t hear the prayers of healing & restoration being spoken over this traumatized baby & you can’t feel the power of worship, the sacrifice of praise that was surrounding him with a peace so sweet that he crawled into my arms and fell asleep.
This isn’t a picture of a Mama with her baby. This is a picture of the church rising up and taking responsibility for innocent life beyond the womb.”
The most powerful part of her message, however, was the end.
“Will we get attached? Yes. Will it be hard? Absolutely. Will we grieve? Yes. But foster care isn’t for people who won’t get attached & won’t grieve…it’s for the people who will. Because that is what this and every child who is a victim of insufficient care needs- someone who will get attached, to love them like their own, and yes…someone who will grieve.
The church needs to understand this-we aren’t called to attend services once a week and sing a few songs, try our best, pay our taxes and go to heaven when we die…that’s not the gospel. The gospel is NOW. Jesus’s message was, “The kingdom of God is here!”If you have a heart for the hurting and a passion to stand in the gap and advocate for the needy, but you’re afraid you “could never do that”I want you to think about where that fear is coming from…it’s the enemy’s plan to stop the kingdom of God from manifesting on the earth today- he uses fear to do it and it is rendering the church useless in our community. Don’t be afraid to grieve, be afraid of what will happen to these children if we don’t lay our lives down to love them.”
Facebook
And that’s why Alyssa’s letter is going so viral. One person even said it was clear Alyssa had found her calling and we couldn’t agree more. More than anything, these children need to be loved. And her words are moving people to react.
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