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Cause for Celebration!

So here's the thing with Foster Care. Kids who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect are going through trauma. They are in the depths of a horrible situation that will stain their entire lives. They are being ripped from their family and everything they have known and thrown into a complicated welfare system. This system often fails, bouncing these innocent children around from home to home, admitting them into residential treatment facilities and then out into group homes. This lack of stability can further decrease waning self-esteem. Packing their belongings into trash bags before moving into another temporary situation making them feel even more unlovable.

It has been on my heart as long as I can remember to be a mom, and more specifically, a mom to kids who don't already have one (even my baby dolls were always orphans). However, it's hard to celebrate my heart's desire coming to fruition when it's because of these circumstances. While I want to jump up and down and throw a party about our first placement, I'm humbled by the reminder that this sweet boy has lived through more pain in his few years than I probably ever will. I am so excited to open my home and heart to this child, but am immediately hit with the pain that he will come to us guarded, damaged and hurt.

We are thrilled that our son got to come and meet us. He got to see his room. We got talk a little about expectations and what life will be like. We got to tell him that we will do everything in our power to set him up for success. We got to see his smile when we told him that his room was decorated completely with him in mind and that it was empty before we knew he was coming to live with us. He got a chance to tell Ryan that Alabama will beat the Vols in the fall and that he loves Cam Newton. We got to tell him that we are thrilled he is going to live with us... and see him try to mask a smile in response. While we know it won't be easy, we are ready for this young man who has so much potential to be our child. We are ready to endure the challenges. We are ready to cry for him and with him. We are ready to be pushed away and yelled at (maybe I'm not, but Ryan will help me through it). We are ready to advocate on his behalf for his emotional, physical and educational needs.

We are ready to fight for our son.

So, in the midst of the stress and pain, we will celebrate. Not for ourselves, that we are fulfilling our dream of being parents. Not for him that he gets to come and live with us. But for him. We will celebrate this boy of 13 who is amazing, strong, resilient, cherished and loved. We will celebrate him for nothing other than who he is.
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