When They Go Home

God taught me the meaning of restoration when baby J was reunited with his family. By this time our other baby had moved to live with his godparents, so we had a special bonding period with J as the remaining baby. We wanted him to be our forever baby. I had convinced myself that he wasn’t going home.

While J was in our care, we heard little details about his family and we knew that he was missed. Baby J has two older siblings that were with him from pregnancy through 3 months old. They missed their brother, especially when they were moved to live with their grandma in Michigan while J entered foster care. When J visited his mom, she always shared their time with his siblings on FaceTime.

But he was mine.

I didn’t want any changes.

I had no idea how I would say goodbye to him.

How was I going to let this tiny human leave my life forever?

One day in June, Steven and I were preparing for a much-needed vacation week. L and baby J were with a respite family and H was with us. Five minutes before leaving the house to drop off H at a summer camp and relax at a lake house, we received a call from our case manager…J’s grandmother hired an attorney and was fighting for custody. An emergency court had met that morning…and she won. She was taking our boy back to Michigan in two days.

I fell to the floor.

Tears began pouring.

Steven came to me and I couldn’t get the words out to tell him.

I finally got it out.

It broke our hearts.

Our case manager offered to drive baby J to us at the lake house for a final goodbye…but Steven and I couldn’t imagine seeing him “one last time.”

I am so thankful for God's perfect timing. We were able to mourn – just the two of us.

Now several months later, God has revealed what I couldn’t see in that moment. I now understand the HEART of fostering – family reunification!

If I had it MY way, baby J would NEVER be reunified with his siblings…or his mom…or his grandmother. Praise God that He knew the stakes. This family was mended back together instead of ripped apart.

So I choose to be on Team FAMILY.

When kids enter our home, they are family.

God alone will decide if this is temporary or forever.

#foster #fostercare #adoption