What Happened When A Volunteer Said “Yes”
“You’re so strong,” I said to Sara, a foster mom I spend one day a week with.
“I mean the fact that you’re doing this. Many people would never be able to do that.”
Sara looked at me, chuckled, and said, “I’m not strong. These kids are strong. They’re the ones who’ve been bounced around from home to home. They’re the ones experiencing the emotional, physical, and mental trauma that resulted from the brokenness of their homes. So I am not strong. They are. But God is strengthening me daily.”
Before volunteering with this family, I had no proximity to the American foster care system.
When I was given an opportunity to provide a small amount of help, little did I know a simple “yes” would become a life-changing and empowering experience.
Proximity brought me into the suffering of families and the brokenness of a system, but it also allowed me the opportunity to see God’s redemptive love brought to life. I wouldn’t have been able to see the latter without the former.
One day, one of Sara’s boys got off the school bus and jumped straight into meltdown mode before entering the house. For about thirty minutes, Sarah stayed out there with him and gave him the space to feel his emotions and be loved through them. It was so simple, yet impactful for me to witness.
By having the opportunity to participate in proximity, I see God’s heart more clearly. God’s desire was to step into the brokenness of sin that plagued this earth in order to bring redemption. Isn’t that the call of every Christian too?
Entering in is daunting. Why would you want to bring a new child into your home and have to deal with all of their trauma, the court dates, visitations with birth parents, etc.? Every foster parent of course has thought this. Surely, they’ve thought: “This is work for someone else.”
Like Sara told me before: she’s not a superhero with superstrength that never tires. But she was willing to do something hard anyway.
Maybe your hard thing isn’t necessarily fostering or adopting. Maybe it’s sitting with an overwhelmed foster mother who just doesn’t know if she could do it again. Maybe it’s cooking a meal or cleaning the kitchen so they don’t have to. Maybe it’s playing with the kids and providing them with that one-on-one time that they need. And maybe it is fostering or adopting.
Whatever it may be, there is power in that. Your simple act of kindness could lead a foster mom to stay on as a foster mother for another year. It could show a foster child that they are loved and cared for. I’m thankful to have seen how the smallest and simplest of acts can go a long way in the grand scheme of things.
Authored by Orlane Destin.
Orlane is a fellow for Project Belong.
