Welcome to Fostering Fridays!
Our hope is that you will be able to get a taste of what it's like to foster by reading
our experiences and thoughts!
Last week, I talked about how to stay in touch with birth families while the child is in your care, offering them support and help.
If you missed that and would like to read it, you can read it here.
This week, I want to talk about how to stay in these parents' lives after their children have left your home. Whether they went back home, were placed with a relative or moved to another home.
If you were able to successfully bond with the parents while the child or children were in your care, they are going to still need support after the child/children have moved from your home. It would be really easy to say, "Well, they aren't my responsibility any more, I don't have their children now." And frankly....you are right. However, if you are a Christ-follower, you are going to want to make sure you are still offering them HOPE. Especially if, for one reason or another, the child didn't go home to them and went somewhere else.
How do you do this? For starters, keep praying for them! Don't stop! And then, maybe some of these ideas will help:
- Continue reaching out to them via text message or phone calls. Let them know you are thinking about them, that you are praying for them and that you care about them. This is a lifeline that reaches far.
- If you have an address for them, send a card.
- When you see them in the community, don't smile and walk by. Go out of your way to make sure and give them a hug and ask how they are doing.
- If their kiddos went home to them, ask about the kids. Ask how the adjustment is going and if they need any resources you can connect them with.
It's not a ton, but it will let them know how much you care!
Till next time...
Have a blessed day and embrace the craziness in your life!
Heidi
Numbers 6:24-26
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Heidi