I am so excited to introduce to you one of my new blogger friends who is near and dear to my heart!
Meagan blogs over at My Wandering Heart and 100% mirrors the grace of God.
She is someone I look up to and I wanted to share with you her story, and how her family chooses foster care as their personal ministry.
Good
morning! My name is Meagan and I blog over at My Wandering Heart. This month, I
found a spot on Casey’s sidebar and through that, we have sparked a friendship!
I am so excited that Casey has asked me to guest blog for her.
A little
background on me: I am a nursing student at the University of Memphis. In 2011,
my parents started a journey in foster care and it has changed my life forever!
I love to bring exposure to the cause of foster care & adoption. The
rules/laws change from state to state but it’s all very similar. So many people
have questions about the foster care process that I have decided to answer a
few!
What is it?
Foster
care is a safe home provided when a child cannot live with his/her own family
for one reason or another. Children enter the foster care system for a variety
of reasons: neglect, abuse, the child is acting out/uncontrollable, a
family crisis or lack of suitable guardian once parents are deceased.
Foster
families provide children with the things they need to live a healthy life:
food, clothing, safety, school, love/affection and a safe home. In some
cases, children will return home with the parent but in other circumstances
parental rights can be terminated and the child will need a permanent home or
an adoptive family. Foster families may serve as a landing spot for children
until that permanent home can be found. Before becoming a foster parent, an
adult or couple must go through intense certification courses, home studies,
background checks, etc.
How does it work?
We have
a DCS {Department of Child Services} case worker that will call us when they
have a child in need of a home. Some kids are brand new to the system and some
kids may be leaving their previous foster home for some reason. Then, my
parents discuss the placement. How old is the child? gender? number of
children? etc. Once a decision is made {usually within a matter of minutes} we
tell DCS yes or no. If yes, the child is either brought to our home or in Baby
M's case, picked up from the hospital. They then live with us as a member of
our family. There will be a preliminary hearing within 48 to 72 hours after the
child comes into state custody. Multiple court dates will follow if the
placement is legitimized. We do not know how long we will have them, it could
be days, weeks, months or years.
Why don't you just adopt the kids?
Not all
children that are in foster care are available for adoption. Many children
still have parents or extended family that will eventually care for the child
after the case has gone to court. Sometimes, there are multiple weeks or months
between court dates and, thus, the process is drawn out and the children are
not allowed to return home for extended periods of time.
Why do you put yourself through that?
"I couldn't do that. It would be too hard to let them
go."
Yes, it
is hard to let go of someone you love. Trust me! But we had a long, hard
conversation about what was best for our family. Is it better for us to live
without hurt in our heart just so that we do not have to face the pain of
saying goodbye to a child that has lived in our home? OR should we put our
feelings to the side to love and care for those that are in need? Yes, our
feelings are important but they should not hinder us from obeying the Lord's
calling. After all, we have each other to lean on and to cry with, some of
these children have absolutely no one in this world to love them or to care
about them. With that being said, we have also had to learn what we can handle.
My
family has found that God tells us many things in the Bible about orphans. It
is like a letter written to guide us through our life here on the earth. We
want to spend our time here making a difference and God has given us the
opportunity of foster care to do just that.
"Give
justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and
the destitute."
Psalm
82:3
Daily,
we get to interact with children, extended families, DCS workers, Court
employees and other foster families. We can show the love of God in every encounter
we have with each of thee people. Not everyone is called to foster or adopt but
we are all called to do something. If you
know someone who fosters or adopts, love on them! One of the least helpful
things we hear is "bless your heart." God is our rock. Take your pity
and do something about the injustices of this world! I have never seen my
parents or my faith grow like it has since 2011. If you take steps in faith,
the Lord will bless you.
"In
all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the
weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said,
‘It is more
blessed to give than to receive."
Acts
20:35
To
maintain the privacy of children in state custody, I will limit my posting of
pictures until the child exits custody.
If
you have any personal questions or would like further explanation, email
me @ meagan [dot] arthur92 [at] yahoo [dot] com and hop on over to my blog to
see more of my story!
